Water Under the Bridge
by vballqueen17
Summary: Richard had been dead the past four years, or so the Titans thought. He returns to Gotham and tries to set things right with the people he loves, but Kory isn't sure whether she can open herself back up to him again. Richard thought he could leave those four years behind him, but once you become a Knight of Death you're in it for life and the Reaper never forgets. [robstar bbrae]
1. Chapter 1

**I've had this story sitting in the back of my mind for a while, but it wasn't until I heard this song that I knew exactly how I wanted to write it.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing as usual**

* * *

Water Under the Bridge

The sun was just beginning to set in the sky. The colors of pink, orange, and purple began to consume the light blue in the distance. If one was outside the city lights the first few twinkle of stars could be seen. Unfortunately, the blaring lights of Gotham made the stars almost impossible to see. Richard didn't mind though, it had been a long time since he had been in Gotham, a long time since he had been home. He sucked in a deep breath as his motorcycle whipped carefully through the evening traffic, his heart starting to race as he neared his old home.

Richard smiled as he turned down gravel drive way. Wayne Manner hadn't changed. He pulled to a stop just outside of the iron gates. He parked his bike and slowly took off his gloves and helmet. He set them down gently and walked over to the gate, his fingers wrapping around the cold metal.

He remembered when he was a teenager how he felt imprisoned by this gate. He wanted to get out of Gotham, move out of Batman's shadow and be his own man. A soft chuckle escaped his lips. When he had finally left he never imagined he would meet four people that would change his life forever.

His eye caught movement in the upper window, Bruce's room. His old mentor and adopted father was on the phone, strolling back and fourth through the windows. He quickly turned away so as not to catch Bruce's attention. A pang of guilt ran through his chest, his eyes roamed back up to Bruce's window and another pang of guilt ran through him when Alfred appeared next to Bruce.

He lingered for a moment longer before he hopped back on the bike, taking himself far away from the mansion. He wasn't ready to face Bruce and Alfred yet. They would be the hardest ones to talk to, well, besides Kory. His stomach gave a flip just thinking about her. Would she forgive him? Had she moved on? He felt a sting of jealous hit him at the thought of some faceless man with his arms wrapped around her. He couldn't blame her though. He had been gone a long time.

He broke from his thoughts, as he slammed hard on his brakes, causing his bike to turn sharply. Screams of terror filled the streets as people ran past him. He flipped his helmet mask up to get a better look. A giant brown and oozing monster came crashing down the streets towards him. It strangely reminded him of Plasmas. His hands shot to his bag sitting on the back of his bike where his Nightwing uniform was hiding. This wasn't the way he was planning on announcing his return, but when there's trouble…

Before he could grab his outfit to change the ooze monster swiped his hand through an old building that was under construction. A large amount of debris came falling down towards him and the others that were standing around. He started to move, but suddenly dark energy surrounded the falling rubble, stopping it from hitting the ground.

A grin crossed Richard's face as he saw Raven fly into sight, her eyes glowing and her face concentrated as she moved the debris out of harms way. She looked different since the last time he saw her. Her blue uniform was replaced by her white one and her face looked older and wiser. There was a blast from behind him and he turned to see Cyborg landing on the ground as a green pterodactyl soared back up into the sky. The robotic titan had grown taller and more muscular over the years, not to mention his tech looked as updated as ever.

The ooze monster fell backwards as Cyborg unleashed a few more blast. He watched as Beast Boy transformed in a t-rex, knocking the monster back towards an old construction sight. Richard revved his motor cycled and followed the Titans. The monster fell and splattered in the construction hole. Beast Boy transformed back into his normal self. Richard could see that Beast boy had grown taller as well. Although he was still shorter than Cyborg, he was towering over Raven. Black pants, a long sleeved black and purple shirt and combat boots had replaced his teen uniform.

"Dude, this is leaving one nasty stain!" Beast Boy said with a laugh as he high fived Cyborg.

Richard's cheeks began to hurt as his grin filled his face. It seemed that not all things had changed since he had been gone.

"Who knew Plasmas had a shit colored brother." Cyborg stated with a shake of his head, a grin on his face as he caught Beast Boy's eye who fell into a fit of giggles.

"I can't believe I still know you two." Raven mumbled.

While the titans were distracted the brown ooze began to piece back together around the unconscious body that was lying in the construction sight. Richard wanted to call out to his friends, to warn them as the monster screamed to life. Suddenly, a parade of green bolts rained down on the brown Plasmas. The brown ooze exploded again and the man behind the ooze fell to the ground with a loud thump.

Richard felt his heart soar as he looked up to see the person the green bolts belonged to. Starfire came gliding down to land next to her friends. Her uniform had also changed since they were teenagers. Her skirt was replaced with purple bikini like bottoms with a silver belt and green jewel gleaming in the middle. She had a long sleeved top and knee-high boots. Her long fiery red hair wrapped around her gorgeous, tanned face and her emerald eyes sparkled just liked he remembered. He had missed those eyes so much.

"Better late than never." Beast Boy said teasingly as he hip bumped her lightly. She smiled in return, but Richard noticed the smile didn't linger as long as it used to. He frowned slightly as he slipped into the shadows, not wanting to be seen.

"Damien wanted to come, but Bruce wouldn't let him so I had to sneak out." Starfire said as she rested an elbow on Cyborg's shoulder.

"How you live with that little menace I will never know." Cyborg said as Beast Boy nodded in agreement.

"He has his moments." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, a hint of a smile on her face.

"That last for about .01 seconds." Raven stated.

That was odd, Richard thought. Since when did Kory live with Bruce and Damien? If anything he thought she would have lived with one of the other titans. What had happened in the four years since he had been gone?

"Well, let's get this guy back where he belongs before he wakes up again." Cyborg said as he started to jump down towards the unconscious body.

The rest of the titans began to follow and Richard craned his neck to keep his eye on them. Now that they were in his sight he didn't want to lose him, but he still couldn't bring himself to say hello. He watched as Kory froze in midflight, slowly lowering herself back down to the ground. She turned and looked in the direction he was standing. He quickly ducted back into the shadows, his heart racing. She looked around for a moment, her eyes focused and her body tense. After several seconds he watched her shoulders slump and a look of heartbreak pass over her face, which made his chest tighten in pain.

He heard a heavy sigh escape her lips before she turned and walked down the construction sight behind the titans. Every part of him wanted to run after her in that moment. He wanted to take her in his arms and tell her he would never leave her again. He wanted to kiss her like the world was going to end tomorrow. He wanted to do so many things, but he remained rooted to the spot.

He didn't know how much time had passed since he watched the titans leave with the unconscious villain. He was finally able to pull himself away from the shadows and slowly walked back to his bike. He thought seeing the people he cared about most would make it easier for him to tell them he was home.

* * *

He settled for a quiet motel on the edge of the city. He needed to clear his head and think. He knew he couldn't hide out there forever, but he didn't know what else to do. When he had first reached Gotham he thought it would be as simple as walking through the front door, but seeing Bruce and the Titans had made him panic. What do you say to your loved ones who believed you to be dead for the past four years?

 _Surprise everyone! I'm not dead!_

That would go over well. It would earn him a one-way ticket to another dimension via Raven, not to mention a few bruises and black eyes courtesy of the rest of his teammates. He pulled at his jet-black locks in frustration as he fell down onto the mattress. He should have thought this through more. He couldn't expect to just walk back into their lives just like that. He knew he wouldn't be the happiest person in the world if someone did that to him.

His body ached from the drive and he could slowly feel himself falling into a peaceful slumber. He would talk to his friends tomorrow, that he was sure of. He just needed to figure out what to say. His mind flickered to Kory. The sorrow and defeat that had passed over her face when she didn't find anything earlier caused his heart to ache. Was she looking for him? Did she think about him like he thought about her? He felt his mind drift off, thinking about one of the last few moments he was with her…

 _Four years ago…_

Kory's arms came crashing around Richard's neck, knocking the wind out of him. He laughed as he regained his balance, his arms wrapping around her back. He could feel her face burry into his neck, her red hair obscuring his vision.

"I can't believe I am going to be your wife." She whispered in his ear, tears splashing on his shoulder.

"So, is that a 'yes' then?" He asked with a laugh.

She pulled back, a bright smile on her face, her emerald eyes shining through her tears. "Did my embrace not make that obvious?" She asked with a cock of an eyebrow.

Richard laughed again as he slipped the ring from the box and slid it on her finger. Kory looked down at it and smiled. Richard pulled her close, his lips finding hers quickly, but gently.

"Mrs. Kory Grayson." He said as they broke apart. "Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"I can not wait to tell the others!" Kory said as she pulled out her phone. "We must celebrate at once!"

"You call the titans and I'll call Bruce." He said as he pulled out is own phone.

He watched as she called Victor, her face lighting up as she started talking a mile a minute. He couldn't help, but grin at his beautiful fiancé. He was the luckiest guy in the world and nothing could ruin this moment. His phone began to buzz and he chuckled, thinking Bruce had read his mind.

"Hey Bruce, great timing I-" He suddenly went silent when the person on the other end of the line wasn't Bruce.

He caught a quick glance at Kory who was still chatting amiably on the phone. He started off down one of the garden paths, making sure Kory couldn't over hear him.

"What happened to not wanting me?" Richard growled. "And now you think I'll just drop my life for-"

He was cut off as the person on the other end began talking rapidly, a dangerous edge in his voice. Richard felt his body deflate with each word. As he closed his eyes, the world felt like it was slowing down. He turned, and opened his eyes, catching sight of Kory. She looked up, still on the phone, and gave him the warmest smile, waving excitedly. He attempted a wave back, but his hand fell half heartily by his side. He watched her happy expression melt away into concern as she said something like "got to go" before hanging up the phone and started after him.

"I understand." Richard said through gritted teeth. "It will be done."

He hung up the phone as Kory stopped in front of him, slightly out of breath. He forced a smile on his face as he pulled her into a hug.

"What's wrong?" She asked with concern. "Is Bruce upset?"

Richard chuckled. "Of course not. That wasn't him."

"Well, then who was it?" She asked as she avoided his lips, that were obviously trying to distract her.

Richard sighed as he leaned back, running a hand through his hair in frustration. She knew him to well. "Just some business people not doing what they should be."

Kory arched an eyebrow, not believing a word of what he was saying. "Dick…"

"Hey," He said cutting her off with a quick kiss, "we're supposed to be planning a celebration, remember?"

Kory smiled and she leaned into his chest, wrapping her arms around his back. "I love you," she said, "to the end of the universe and back."

"The universe is a pretty big place." He said as he rested his head on top of hers, their bodies swaying gently.

"Bigger than you know." She said as she looked up at him with a smirk.

He kissed her forehead, his lips lingering for a moment on her soft, tanned skin. "To the universe and back." He whispered.

* * *

Richard awoke to first rays of sun streaming through the crooked binds of his motel window. He slowly sat up, running his eyes sleepily. He was surprised to see that his fingers were wet. He looked down at his pillow and could see wet stains on the pillowcase. He hurriedly dried his eyes despite no one being around to witness his tears. He hadn't cried since he left four years ago.

He pulled himself out of bed and headed for the shower. He needed to figure out whom he should talk to first. Kory and Bruce were out of the question so that left him with Victor, Gar or Rachel. The possibility of being sent to an unpleasant dimension ruled out Rachel immediately. The hot water scorched his skin, but he didn't mind. He let the steam fill the bathroom, as he leaned against the shower wall in concentration. That left Victor and Gar. He knew Victor could potentially hit hard than Gar, but Victor may be the more reasonable of the two.

Richard turned the hot water off and stepped out of the shower, drying off quickly with a towel. He now had the beginnings of a plan and making plans was something he was very good at. He would go to Victor first and if he survived that encounter he would move on to Gar and Rachel, slowly building his way up to Bruce and Kory. At least he would have the rest of the titans to protect him from the potential ass kicking he was going to receive from his adoptive father and fiancé.

Richard paused, his shirt hanging pathetically off his arms. He had just called Kory is fiancé. Who knew if Kory kept the ring let alone would still want to marry him after what he had put her through? For all he knew she was happy with someone new. That thought alone was almost enough to make him pack his stuff and leave Gotham forever.

"No," He said aloud to himself, "no more running."

He finished getting dressed and threw on his jacket before grabbing his bag and heading out to his bike. He knew it was Sunday and Victor would usually spend the day at his auto and electronic shop, taking a break from the pressures of co-running Stone Labs and being the leader of the Titans. At least Richard hoped that that had not changed in the time he had been gone.

He eased down the streets of Gotham; he still knew them so well. The rush of being some place familiar made him smile despite the nerves that were beginning to build. He realized he hadn't even really thought about what he was going to say, that is, if Victor let him say anything at all. He was hoping he could just open his mouth and the right words would fall out, although when it came to feelings he knew he didn't have the best chance of getting it right.

He turned the corner and could see Victor's shop in the distance. The sound of cars and various tools being used filled Richard's ears and he parked not too far away. He slowly took his helmet and gloves off, placing them carefully on his bike. He knew he was stalling, but his strong resolve to talk to his friends today was slowly starting to crumble.

"I'd rather face Slade right now." He mumbled. The thought of one of their most terrible enemies flooded his thoughts of when he used to be the man's apprentice. The horrible feeling of having to fight them to keep them alive and watching them get destroyed by the Nano probes rushed through his chest. He closed his eyes, remembering when Starfire had stood up to him refusing to fight because they were best friends. It was the thought of her courage that gave him the extra push to walk through the shop's doors.

The sound of a bell rang throughout the room as the door shut. Richard looked around, but Victor was not anywhere to be seen. He was happy to see that the shop had not changed though. Their first T-Car was in a display case in the back of the shop, with photos of it in action nailed up on the wall behind it. People were wandering around the room look at various items for sale and admiring the different gadgets and gizmos that filled the space. Richard spotted a blond girl on a phone behind the main counter. He started in her direction, hoping she could tell him where his friend might be.

"There's nothing Mr. Stone can't solve when it comes to electronics." Richard heard her say, a wide smile gracing her pretty face. "Maybe if you're lucky, but I'm, not in charge of the Titan's schedule. Yeah, okay, have a nice day!"

She hung up the phone, writing something down in what looked like a scheduling notepad. She finally looked up at Richard, still smiling.

"Hi, can I help you?" She asked.

"Yes, actually," He said as she slightly narrowed her eyes at him after a moment, "I'm looking for Victor Stone."

She didn't respond right away, but continued to stare at him curiously, like there was something odd about his face. He waved at her slightly to get her attention back.

"Sorry!" She said as she snapped out of it. She quickly picked the phone up again and spoke to who he presumed to be Victor on the other line. She hung up the phone and looked at him curiously again. "He's coming. You just look very familiar, I'm Sarah Simms, maybe we went to high school together?"

Richard chuckled. "I don't think so."

Sarah frowned slightly, pointing a finger at him. "Are you sure, I swear I've seen you before, what's you're name?"

"I promise you we've never met," Richard said, "but I'm Ric-"

"Sarah if it's Vinny again please tell him I'm not going to try and-"

Richard turned at the sound of Victor's voice and the metal titan stopped in his tracks when his eyes fell on Richard. Both titans stared at each other for a long while, Victor's eyes as wide as saucers, his mouth slightly agape. Richard smiled and waved sheepishly.

"Hey, Vic." He said to break the tension.

Sarah, who had come around the counter to stand between them looked curiously back and fourth between the pair. "Victor, babe, do you know this guy?"

Victor still didn't say anything, but he had slightly regained his composure. He pulled himself up to his fullest height and started marching over to where Richard was standing. Richard groaned internally and prepared himself for the ass kicking he knew he was about to receive.

"Richard fucking Grayson how dare you." Victor's voice boomed, as he got closer.

Richard's instincts were telling him to run, but he knew he deserved whatever was coming next. He took a deep breath as Victor closed the distance between them. Suddenly, and surprisingly, Richard was pulled into a tight embrace, strong arms crushing against his back. It took Richard a moment to realize that Victor was hugging him. Richard could feel all his nerves melt away as he fell into one of his best friend's embrace.

"I'm sorry." He said and then repeated many, many times into Victor's ear. "I'm so sorry."

The boys finally broke from their embrace and Richard caught Victor wiping tears from his eyes. Victor's hands gripped Richard's shoulders tightly; he was still looking at Richard in disbelief.

"This can't- _you_ can't be real." He half whispered.

"Your favorite pizza topping is every meat possible, your high score on Ninja Fury was exactly 300,000 and we were the ones that put purple hair dye in Beast Boy's shampoo for April Fool's Day." Richard ticked off as he thought of the many memories he shared with his metal friend.

"Well, in that case" Victor said in a somewhat angry voice before he swiftly hit Richard, "mind telling me why you've been dead the past four years."

Richard rubbed his arm, expecting the punch to have been harder, but was glad Victor had decided to take it easy on him. Before he could say anything he heard Sarah gasp loudly.

"This is your titan leader that died four years ago?" She asked pointing at Richard with wide eyes.

"The one and only." Richard said with a small salute. "Richard Grayson, or, well, my friends call me Dick." He stuck out his hand for her to shake. She took it, still in shock by the news. Richard wasn't sure who was more surprised at that moment.

"And Dick has _a lot_ of explaining to do." Victor said as he threw an arm around Sarah, pulling her in. "Have you announced your presence to anyone else yet?"

Richard shook his head. "You're the first."

Victor's stony expression softened a little at those words. Richard felt a smile tug at his lips and he could see Victor trying to suppress his own. "Well, you're in luck," Victor said, "all of us were heading to Bruce's today anyway."

"Why?" Richard asked as he cocked an eyebrow.

Victor chuckled sadly. "If you don't remember today is the day that you…" He trailed off as Richard realized exactly what day it was.

"Died." He finished and Victor nodded his head. "How ironic." He added with a laugh.

"You're riding with me." Victor said as he dove forward to grab Richard's bike keys from his belt. "I'm not letting you out of my sight for the next forever." Richard laughed as he let his friend snatch his keys away. "You're laughing now Boy Wonder, but you gotta sit in the back with grass stain and Rachel."

Richard's laughter died away and his face drained of all color. That seemed like a cruel punishment, but he didn't argue. "I promise I'll explain everything once we're all together." Richard said as he cleared his throat.

"Yeah, you better." Victor said. He smiled and pulled Richard in, giving him a well-deserved knuckle sandwich. "Bet you still can't catch me, Spikes!" Victor cried before he tore off in the direction of his car.

Richard grinned at Sarah for a moment before he took off after his friend. "Wanna bet, metal butt!"

* * *

Richard could feel his nerves starting to flutter again as they neared Rachel and Gar's apartment. He had been surprised to hear that they had been living together for the past couple of years.

"A lot of things happened while you were gone." Victor said when Richard had asked about it. "You would never think Beast Boy to be the comforting type, but death changes people."

He had been too scared to asked about Kory and Victor hadn't offered any information either. He would just have to wait to see what she had been up to the last for years when he got to the mansion. Victor pulled the car to a stop outside of a set of beautiful apartments and honked the horn loudly. He turned to Sarah and smiled sheepishly at her.

"You probably want to stay in the car." He said. "It could get ugly."

Richard audibly gulped in the backseat.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Sarah said with a nod of her head. "I've seen all of you in action, not sure who I would be more afraid of."

"Raven." Victor and Richard said in unison

Both boys got out of the car and Victor slowly worked his way to the other side so he was standing next to Richard. The latter was leaning against the car, hands nervously shaking in his jean pockets. He leaned over to Victor an asked, "On a scale of one to ten how quickly do you think Rachel is going to banish me to the worst place she can think of?"

"A twelve for sure." Victor said without taking his eyes off the front door.

"Right…" Richard said as he turned forward.

The door opened and Richard could see Gar, his back turned to them, yelling something back up the stairs. The green titan shook his head before turning to leave.

"I think Kory's rubbed off on Rachel a bit _too much_ ," Gar said as he started down the stairs, not catching sight of Richard yet, "she's fussing about her outfit!"

"One of you has to look good." Victor said with a smirk.

Gar snorted. "Yeah, yeah very fun-"

Richard felt his body tense as Garfield finally looked up and noticed him standing next to Victor. Victor looked between the boys as Gar rubbed his eyes, making sure Richard wasn't an illusion.

"Dude…" Gar said softly.

"Garfield, if we're running late why are you just standing there and not getting into the car." Rachel said as she closed the door. "What on earth are you starring at?" Rachel turned and caught sight of Richard and he watched her whole body tremble slightly. "You're supposed to be dead." She whispered.

Richard let out a short breath, almost like a laugh as he ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I was, but here I am." Richard knew how lame the words were, but he didn't know what else to say.

"And where have you been this whole time?" Rachel demanded, her jaw tight with anger.

"Rachel…" Gar said as he reached out to here.

"No!" Rachel said as she moved out of his reach. "No, Dick Grayson you do not get to leave us for four years, letting us think that you're dead and except to come back just like that!"

Richard flinched in pain at every word she said. It was the truth and he knew he deserved whatever harsh words she was about to throw at him. Rachel started for him, but Gar quickly wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her back as she struggled in his arms.

"Do you know how hard it was to face every single day knowing you weren't alive?" She yelled as black energy began seeping from her body, but Gar continued to hold on. He was trying to calm her down, but she didn't seem to hear him.

"Do you know what it was like to live with the guilt of knowing we couldn't save you?" She was struggling hard against Gar, but the green titan never lost his grip. Tears were now streaming down Rachel's face.

"Do you know how long I held Kory in my arms when Victor told her you were dead!" She shrieked. This more than anything hit Richard the hardest. Not only did he hurt his closes friends, but the idea that Kory had suffered so much from what he did cut him like none other.

"Do you know how much we missed you?" Rachel murmured, her body going limp in Garfield's arms. He slowly lowered them to the ground; the black energy surrounding them started fading.

Richard could feel his own tears sting his eyes as he rushed forward and engulfed them in a tight embrace. He could feel both their arms wrap around him tightly.

"I missed you all so much." Richard said as he attempted to wipe his tears away. "I never stopped thinking about any of you."

"Now I know y'all aren't doing a group hug without me!" Victor said as he crashed down on them, his giant arms engulfing the group.

"Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, do that again, dude." Garfield said, leaning his chin on Rachel's shoulder.

"Don't worry," Richard said with a laugh, "I'm here to stay this time."

"I'm assuming you have a very good explanation as to why you faked your death." Rachel said a little more seriously, catching Richard's eye.

Richard simply nodded his head. "It'll be easier once everyone is together."

"Well, we better get going then." Victor said as he picked the group off the ground. "Kory's waiting for us."

Richard could feel the butterflies flutter in his stomach. He closed his eyes, remembering seeing her yesterday for the first time in four years. Being with her again would truly make this place home.

* * *

"Maybe I should wait in the car and you all can brace Bruce and Kory about my not deadness." Richard said as Victor pulled the car up to the front of the Wayne mansion.

"Do my ears deceive me?" Gar said as he held up a hand to his ear. "Dick Grayson is afraid?"

"You'd be afraid too if your fiancé was a powerhouse alien and your adopted father was Batman." Richard mumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm dating Rachel, aren't I?" Gar asked as he thrust a thumb in the direction of his girlfriend. Rachel narrowed her eyes and smacked him in the back of the head causing him to sheepishly grin at her.

"You know if you don't walk through that door right now you never will." Rachel said kindly.

Richard peered up at the mansion through the car window. Although his nerves were coursing through him, making him want to bolt in the other direction, there was something else pulling him towards his family.

"You're right." He said as he opened the car door. "And I owe them so much."

The rest of the titans and Sarah got out of the car and walked towards the front door. Richard could feel his body shaking slightly and he took several deep breaths to calm himself. Even if everything goes completely wrong they would know the truth and that was the best he could offer them. Victor rang the doorbell and after a few moments the door creaked open and Richard could just see Alfred peeking out from behind it.

"Good afternoon, Titans, come on in. Master Wayne and Miss Kory will be around momentarily." He said as he stepped aside for them to come in.

"And where is Damien?" Gar asked as he immediately began to look around for the young Robin.

"Do not worry Mr. Logan, Damien has been told to reel in his, uh," Alfred had to stop himself from laughing, "unruly behavior for the day."

"Thank goodness," Gar said with a sigh of relief as he slung his arm around Rachel, "I don't think I can handle another prank from the little terror."

"Sounds like someone is getting too old to keep up with the youngsters." Victor said with a smirk. "Oh, Alfred with have a special guest with us today."

Alfred nodded his head as everyone began to file past him. "I shall inform Master Wayne of-" Alfred stopped when all the titans had entered the house and their special guest was left standing in the doorway. "M-master Grayson, is that you?"

Richard smiled as he watched tears fill the old butler's eyes. He didn't hesitate any longer as he crashed into his old friend. He felt like a kid again as Alfred's arms quickly wrapped around his back.

"It's been a long time, Alfred." Richard whispered. "I've missed you."

Alfred didn't respond, he just hugged Richard tighter.

"Alfred, who are you hugging so tightly?" Bruce asked as he reached the end of the stairs while fixing his shirtsleeve. "I know Jason hasn't been _that good_ lately."

Alfred finally pulled himself for Richard's arms and turned to look at Bruce, wiping tears from his eyes. "Master Grayson has returned home, sir."

Richard finally met Bruce's eyes. It was one of those rare times in his life he could see his adopted father's usually calm demeanor falter as his eyes widened. It only lasted a moment and suddenly Bruce's eyes narrowed.

"Who were your real parents?" He asked as everyone held his or her breath.

Richard almost laughed. Of course Bruce would be the one to thoroughly interrogate him to make sure he wasn't a trick.

"John and Mary Grayson. Together we were the Flying Graysons." He stated calmly.

"Who was your first girlfriend?" Bruce continued.

Richard gulped and was glad Kory wasn't in the room, although he was curious as to where she could be. "Batgirl also known as Barbara Gordon."

He could hear Gar and Victor sniggering somewhere behind him.

"Where is your fiancé from and what is her real name?" Bruce plowed on.

"Princess Koriand'r of Tameran." Richard responded. He wondered how long Bruce was planning on keeping this up. He knew his adopted father could probably go all night at questioning him and still not believe it was him.

"What did I tell you the first night you slept here when you had awoken from a nightmare?" Bruce asked as the tension in the room grew.

"You-what?" He asked thrown off by the question.

"You heard me." Bruce said, his eyes still narrowed.

Richard closed his, remembering the first time he stayed in the Wayne mansion. He had been afraid and sad after sitting through his parent's funeral. He had never forgotten about that night. "You said that I should take my fear and make it my strength and that you'd always try to be there for me."

Richard's eyes were still closed as his mind filled with the vision of Bruce in his silk pjs sitting on the edge of his bed, saying those words as a crazy storm raged outside his window. Suddenly, Richard felt himself wrapped into a tight hug and he opened his eyes for a moment to see Bruce holding him.

"Dad…"Richard let slip as he returned the embrace. "Please, forgive me."

Bruce pulled back and Richard could see he was fighting the tears. "We have a lot to talk about, but I am very happy to see you."

Richard smiled warmly. This was going better than he had hoped. He knew that all his friends and family were still upset in some way, but they wanted him back in their lives and that was everything to him. There was just one last person he needed to see.

"Where's Kory?" He asked breathlessly as the red headed beauty still had not made an appearance yet.

Everyone exchanged a glance and Richard could feel his nerves flicker to life again. Nothing good ever came from silence and exchanged glances like that.

"She's out in the greenhouse." Bruce finally said.

"When did we get a greenhouse?" Richard asked.

"Long story, when did you come back from the dead?" Bruce asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Long story." Richard said with a slight grin.

"Which I am sure you can explain over dinner." Bruce said as he ushered Richard towards the backdoor. "Alfred, we'll have to set another plate."

"Of course, Master Wayne." Alfred said, his face beaming.

Bruce gave him another push out the door and Richard started off down the gravel path past the gardens to a giant glass building he assumed was their greenhouse. Everyone gathered around the wide windows that overlooked the gardens. Damien walked into the room, throwing an apple up in the air and swiftly took a bite from it, starring at the group of people gathered around.

"What are you all doing?" He asked with a cock of an eyebrow.

"Turns out Richard isn't dead after all and he's going to go talk to Kory for the first time." Gar said as he took his eyes off the window for a moment to look at Damien.

Damien rolled his eyes. "I had a feeling he wasn't _really_ dead." He wiggled his way to the front of the group and watched as Richard opened the greenhouse door and disappear into the doomed room. "Bets on Kory blasting him out of the window?"

"I'll put ten on that." Victor said immediately.

"Same here!" Gar said.

Damien held out his hand for the money and Bruce frowned down at his son. "Damien, you know she won't do that."

"Father," Damien said as he took a few dollars from Rachel, "I know the princess just as well as the rest of you and believe me if she doesn't blast him then we should be concerned."

"I would also like to put five dollars down, Master Damien." Alfred said as he passed the young Robin a five-dollar bill.

"Alfred!" Bruce said as the butler just shrugged his shoulders.

Richard took a deep breath and entered the greenhouse.

* * *

 **Wow oh wow this took me a while to crank this out. Yay it's been a while since I've written a fic! I've started then never finished a few, but I'm really into this one. The updates between them may take a bit longer, but I'm excited for this story.**

 **Thoughts on how you think Kory will react when she sees Richard? Also this is the first time I've ever written Damien Wayne's character. I've watched a few things with him in it (most recently Teen Titans vs Justice League) and I wanted to mess around with his character. Hopefully I do him right and of course he'll have my own little spin without putting him too ooc. Lots of backstory to come to explain everything! Also I hope I kept true to how I think everyone would react after thinking Richard was dead.**

 **I think that's all I wanted to say for now, so please drop me a review and tell me what you think!**

 **Vballqueen17**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing as usual**

* * *

Water Under the Bridge

Richard closed the door to the greenhouse and was almost floored by the beautifully exotic plants that covered the area. He knew immediately that these plants were from Tameran. A variety of smells hit him at once and he closed his eyes as memories of Kory filled his mind. She was somewhere in here and he had to find her. He opened his eyes and started carefully moving around the colorful plants (and avoided the ones that looked like they could eat him).

After careful navigation he spotted her kneeling in front of a small pond with a beautiful fountain pouring into it. He could just pick up on what she was saying and he knew it was in Tameran. He had been lucky enough to learn some of her language and he could pick out a few words. It seemed to be some sort of memorial and he painfully remembered this was the anniversary of his death.

He watched as she finished and slowly got to her feet. She turned and he could see her wipe a few tears away. She opened her eyes and spotted him right away. She froze and he could tell she was trying to figure out if she was hallucinating or not.

"X'hal, you never really go away do you?" She said with a bitter laugh. "No matter how much meditation I do or medication I take." She said as she started to move past him.

Richard frowned. How many times had she thought she had seen him and thought he was real? How hard did she try to get rid of his ghost over the past four years?

"Kory, it's me, I'm real." He said, his voice horse as he spoke.

She paused again and took a few steps closer. "You have never spoken before." She whispered as tears filled her eyes.

"Star…" He said as he came closer to her. He placed a gentle hand on her soft cheek. She closed her eyes and seemed to melt into his touch. "I'm home."

"Oh Dick." She said as she placed a hand over his, squeezing it.

Richard could feel his heart soar. He leaned in to kiss her lips, which looked so soft and inviting. Before he could reach them her eyes snapped open and he had a brief moment to brace himself as her laser eyes blasted him out of one of the windows.

There was an audible gasp and "ooh" from the group at the window as they watched Richard soar out of the glass and hit the grass.

"That's my girl." Damien said with a satisfied smile.

"That's _our_ girl." Victor corrected him.

"Is he going to be okay?" Sarah asked in concern as she watched him slowly get to his feet.

"He's taken harder hits before." Bruce said as he shook his head, stepping away from the window to go and help his son.

"Yeah, she went pretty easy on him." Gar said as he watched Kory open the door and stroll right past Richard.

"For now." Rachel said as she followed Bruce.

Richard shook his head, gathering his sense. He should have known that was coming. He watched as Kory marched right past him towards the mansion. He tried to get to his feet, still slightly disoriented from the ordeal.

"Kory," he said in a pained gasp, "Kory, wait!"

"I have nothing to say to you." She said angrily as she wretched the door open, surprised to see Bruce and Rachel on the other side. She quickly gained her composure by taking a short breath and tucking her long hair behind her ears. "There was a Zarbnaf in the greenhouse, but no need to worry as I have taken care of it."

She moved past them and Rachel and Bruce tried hard not to laugh at what she had just called Richard. Bruce cleared his throat as he said, "I'll get Richard and you try and stop Kory from leaving."

"Men always taking the easy job." She said with a playful roll of her eyes before she took off after Kory.

"I am guessing you have all noticed a certain someone has returned." Kory said as she moved past all of her friends who were still gathered in the living room.

"How could we not since you blasted him onto the back lawn?" Damien asked with a smirk, catching the princess's eye. He could see the corners of her mouth turn up slightly.

"Well, I shall be off for the evening and will return before dawn." Kory said as she started for the front door.

"Not so fast, Kory." Rachel said as she grabbed her friend's hand. "It's family dinner night and you are not skipping out on us."

Kory frowned as she looked around at everyone who was nodding their head in agreement. "Fine." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "But I shall only stay if the Zarbnaf leaves."

"What's a Zarbnaf?" Gar whispered into Victor's ear.

"Probably better than a Clorbag Vorblernelk." Victor whispered back. "I think she's talking about Dick."

"You know that's not going to happen." Rachel said as looked at her best friend seriously. The girl could be really stubborn when she wanted to be.

"Yeah, Dick says he's going to explain everything to us tonight." Gar said as Kory's stony expression only hardened.

"And you all are not upset with him?" She asked.

"Of course we are, Star." Victor said.

"Well, it does not show." She said, angry tears spilling from her eyes.

Rachel wrapped her arms around her and Kory leaned back into her best friend. Truthfully, she wasn't completely angry. She felt a mixture of joy at seeing him alive, but also of fear, anger, confusion and a bit of embarrassment. For only seeing him for a few seconds she felt completely and emotionally drained.

"I know I should be angry," Gar said as he looked out of the window to where Bruce and Richard were talking, "but I feel like I've lost so many people I care about that getting someone back feels so good."

Everyone was watching Gar. He tore his eyes away from the window and smiled warmly at them. He caught Rachel's eye and he could see the most gentle and affectionate look pass over her face. He could have kissed her right there if she hadn't been holding Kory.

"I suppose I could at least listen to what he has to say." Kory finally said as she absentmindedly played with a rose gold chain around her neck. "Before I knock him into the next solar system that is."

Everyone laughed as Bruce and Richard entered back into the room. An awkward silence ensued and Richard tried to catch Kory's eye, but she was looking everywhere, but at him.

"Dinner will be served soon." Bruce said as he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "And there will be plenty of wine to go around for what I am sure will be a very interesting story. No, Damien you can not have any."

Damien frowned and took another obnoxiously loud bite of his apple and looked over at Kory.

"And don't think Kory is going to sneak you any because she's terrible at sneaking things." Bruce said, his back already to them as he headed for the dinning room.

"Oh come on!"

* * *

Sitting down and eating dinner with his favorite people was the best thing Richard had done in years. While Kory was refusing to talk or even look at him he still felt incredibly happy to be there. He knew his friends were still upset, but it seemed like they were making efforts to catch him up on their lives.

Victor and Sarah had met at a children's disabled event where the Titans were special guest. She was a volunteer who worked with kids who had prosthetic and robotic parts. Richard watched as he took her hand, squeezing it gently when she talked about their first date. She still worried when he would go on missions, especially now that he was the leader of the Titans (they had dropped the Teen when they were all well past the age).

Rachel and Gar owned a book and café store that had grown immensely popular over the years with special appearances by the cities favorite heroes. The Titans would often hang out there in their off time. Gar also frequently volunteered at an animal shelter with Kory (and Damien whenever the latter was able to drag him).

Bruce was still running his business while training Damien as the newest Robin. While Damien was clever and a bit too cunning, Richard could see he had a strange loyalty with Kory. He watched the two whisper together across the table and he could have sworn he saw her slip him some wine while Bruce was talking to Victor about something.

Kory was a mystery to him. She didn't speak much throughout dinner and she certainly wasn't interested in talking to him. Despite her cold demeanor towards him he couldn't help, but steal glances at her every chance he got. He didn't think she could have gotten more beautiful, but she had. Or maybe it was just because he hadn't seen her in so long. He watched as she would fiddle with a rose gold chain around her neck and wondered what could be on the end that was hidden beneath her shirt. Every so often he would catch her looking at him and his stomach would give a little flip.

After dinner and dessert everyone leaned back in their chairs, happily chatting with each other. Richard had never felt so content. He hadn't had a meal like that in a long while. He wondered if he could sneak up to his old room and crash on a bed. Someone cleared their throat and Richard realized that everyone was looking at him, even Kory. His heart began to pound in his chest, as he knew it was finally time to tell everyone the truth.

"Richard, I believe it's time to explain yourself." Bruce said calmly.

Richard nodded his head. "I know you all probably have a million questions, but it will be easier to answer them once I've finished telling my story."

Everyone in the group nodded their heads. Richard looked around the room, his eyes resting on Kory. For the first time that night she didn't look angrily at him. It was the same look he saw back when he was hiding in the shadows. The look of heartbreak and disappointment. Once the truth was out there she could either choose to let him back in or keep him out forever. The thought scared him deeply. He looked away, his eyes falling to his hands, which were resting on the table.

"A while back, before I proposed to Kory, I was approached by a man named Baze." Richard started. He tried to remember everything from the beginning; he wanted them to know the whole truth. "He said he had been watching the Titans for a while and said that I would be a perfect candidate for the group he was a part of.

"Baze called them the Knights of Death." Richard said with a sigh. "Needless to say I was very skeptical at first, but I agreed to meet with Baze to learn more. He told me that they were a secret group of trained fighters whose mission it was to dismantle and destroy regimes or tyrant leaders threatening the freedom of the people."

Richard could see Bruce's face hardened. "I assured him that I wasn't in the business of killing." Richard said quickly. "He told me that the name 'Knights of Death' was more metaphorical in the sense of death to a regime or government that was threatening the free people."

"So Baze was a recruiter." Victor said.

Richard nodded. "He said I had to pass a series of test to be considered. I thought I would be able to remain the leader of the Titans and just work in the group whenever they needed someone like me in the area. That wasn't the case."

"Are you saying that all those times you happened to be isolated from us while we were fighting crime were your test?" Rachel asked, realization dawning on her.

"Yes. They would provide a distraction for you all while I took care of the part they wanted me to complete." Now that he was admitting it out loud it sounded so stupid and reckless.

"Sounds like something my grandfather would come up with." Damien mumbled.

"Wait," Bruce said as he looked from Damien to Richard, "this wasn't something stemming from Ra's al Ghul, was it?"

Richard knew he couldn't get through all of this without questions being asked. Although, he could not blame them, if he was in their position he would be firing questions away as well. "No. I made sure of that one."

He could see Bruce visibly relax in his chair. Richard wasn't sure if his father was going to like what he had to say next about the Knights of Death, but he continued on.

"Anyway, I seemed to have passed all of their test and Baze told me he would pass everything on to their leader."

"Who is their leader?" Gar asked, engrossed in Richard's words.

"They called him the Reaper," Richard said looking past everyone. He could see the sky darkening through the window and an involuntary shiver went down his spine as he thought of those pale blues eyes starring him down through the window, "and for good reason. You would think you were face to face with Death itself just by looking into his eyes."

"So you were accepted." Damien said after a long period of silence.

Richard laughed, surprising everyone. "No, actually. Before any of my stuff could reach the Reaper some of the other higher up members said I had to many close ties to people and that they didn't want me."

Everyone gave him a puzzled look.

"So, what happened?" Sarah asked when no one said anything.

"I put them out of my mind, figuring I would never hear from them again." Richard said as he leaned back in his chair. How he wished he could have forgotten about them all those years ago. "Until I got a call from them."

"The day we got engaged." Kory's voice rang clearly throughout the room.

Everyone looked over at her in surprise, but she only had eyes for Richard. He could see so much swimming in those emerald pools. Guilt, anger, sadness, betrayal. He swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Yes, the day we got engaged." He knew she was thinking that there was someone she could have stopped him. He wanted to dive across the room and take her into his arms and tell her there was no way she could have prevented any of this from happening. This was his doing alone.

"What did they say to you that convinced you to leave?" Rachel asked.

"Baze informed me that the Reaper wanted me, but that I would have to leave Gotham indefinitely and cut all ties with family and friends." Richard said, his cheeks growing red.

"And you left, just like that?" Damien asked skeptically.

"No," Richard said with a frustrated shake of his head, "they threatened Gotham if I didn't join at least for a year."

"Sounds like a great club to be apart of." Rachel mumbled sarcastically.

"Dude, why didn't you tell us, we could have stopped them!" Gar said as the others nodded in agreement.

Richard refused to look at any of them. "It wasn't that simple. They knew _everything_ about you all. I was afraid they would destroy everything I cared about, so I joined."

He dared sneak a peak at Kory. She wasn't looking in his direction, but instead out the window, her hand clutching the chain around her neck. He would give anything to know what she was thinking at the moment.

"They made me fake my death so no one would come looking for me." Richard said a little more quietly as he looked away from Kory. "They said it was the only way to maintain their secret."

Everyone had mixed looks of horror and pain on their faces. Richard looked down grimly down at his hands.

"You said that you only had to join for a year." Victor stated, regaining his composure. "Why were you gone for so long?"

"I rose quickly in the ranks of the Knights of Death." Richard explained. "The Reaper was very pleased with me, I soon became their best fighter and he wasn't ready to let me go that easily. I had no contact with my old life and soon I just slipped into their routine, forgetting who I was for a long time. I never forgot any of you though." He said the last part more quietly.

He felt someone's hand grab his and squeeze it gently. It was Rachel. He could see everyone giving him a small smile, except for Kory who was still looking out the window.

"What made you leave?" Gar asked.

"The Reaper had finally crossed the line and asked me to do something I wouldn't do." Richard said with a sigh of relief. His tale was coming to an end and no one hated him or had kicked him out yet. "When I refused they threatened me and everything back home, so I taught them a lesson."

"How did you escape?" Sarah asked excitedly. "There must have been dozens of them."

Richard chuckled. "I told you I was their best fighter, they shouldn't be bothering me ever again."

"So you're here to stay, then?" Bruce asked as he finished his glass of wine. There was a smile playing on his lips.

"As long as you'll have me." He said, returning the smile.

* * *

"You have to stop by our shop tomorrow and grab lunch, it's our daily tradition." Gar said as he nudged Richard in the side with his elbow. "You have a lot of time to make up with us."

Richard laughed as he leaned against the doorframe. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Only if I get to cook." Victor said. "No body wants your vegan scones."

Gar frowned. "Rachel said they weren't that bad last time I made them!" He turned to look at her and she gave him a sheepish grin.

"She's your girlfriend, of course she's going to say that." Victor said.

"So what does Sarah lie to you about then?" Gar asked with a wiggle of his eyebrow.

"Come here you little grass stain." Victor said as he started to chase after Gar in the front yard.

Richard, Rachel and Sarah all laughed as they watched them.

"So, we'll see you tomorrow then." Rachel said. "Hopefully this isn't some weird dream we're all having and you'll still exist tomorrow."

Richard smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be there."

The girls said their goodbyes and Richard closed the door behind him. He released a heavy sigh as he looked around for Kory who had promptly disappeared after he had finished his story.

"Dick, I want to go over everything you know about the Knights of Death tomorrow." Bruce said as he started for the staircase. "Just in case they decide they want you back."

Richard nodded seriously. "Of course."

Bruce smiled. "Your old room is open and Dick, it's good to have you home."

"Good to be home." He said.

Bruce disappeared upstairs and Richard walked into the living room, wondering where Kory had gone. He was hoping he could talk to her alone and try to figure out where they would go from here.

"She's on the swing by the rose garden." Damien said from the couch where he was playing video games. "She likes to sit out there when she can't think clearly."

"You two seem to be really close." Richard observed.

Damien paused his game and turned to look at his brother. "No one likes being alone." He said before he turned back and started playing his game again.

Richard gave his brother a curious glance before he started for the backyard. Lights had been placed around the hedges and the fountains, which gave the garden a very romantic glow. He followed the stone path towards the swing in the rose garden. Sure enough Kory was gently swinging by herself.

"May I join you?" He asked quietly. He was half afraid she would blast him again. She merely nodded and he carefully sat down on the swing so as not to disrupt its motion. For a while they just sat in silence, listening to the sound of the trickling water in the fountain in front of them.

"I have to keep telling myself you're real," Kory finally said, "because I've been so used to seeing your ghost."

Richard frowned. He didn't know if he should reach for her hand or not, but he did anyway. She didn't flinch away as his hand wrapped around hers. She almost didn't seem to notice.

"For the longest time after I thought you were," She gulped, not able to bring herself to say 'dead', "well, gone, I kept seeing you everywhere. You were in my dreams, you were there when I was awake, you were there when I was alone, and you were there when I was in a crowded room."

"What would I do?" He asked.

"Nothing, really." She said with a small shake of her head. "Just stand there and smile at me. At first I thought it was comforting, but the longer I knew you weren't coming back the harder it was to see you."

"Kory, I am so unbelievably sorry for what I have put you through." He said.

She turned and looked at him her eyes sad and angry.

"You were dead." She said, the sobs climbing her throat. "You were not coming back and I did not know what to do, I was devastated and I could not carry on knowing I would never see you again."

The tears came hot and heavy and Richard's hands moved to her face as he tried to wipe the tears away with his thumbs. Her hands wrapped around his wrist, squeezing them tightly.

"I did so many bad things when you were gone." She sobbed. "Why did you leave me?"

"Star," Richard said, his voice breaking from hearing her sobs, "I never stopped loving or thinking about you. You were the only thing that kept me from becoming the monster they were making me into!"

Kory just shook her head. "Why wasn't I enough to make you stay?"

"I couldn't let them hurt you or anyone else." Richard said fiercely. "I would never forgive myself if I did."

"Dick…" She said, her body was trembling and he wanted to pull her close to him so badly.

"Kory I love you and I still want to be with you." He said.

She pulled away from him and slowly took off her necklace. Her sobs had subsided and she held up the chain for him to see what was on the other end of it. Richard could feel the tears spring to his eyes as his body froze. The engagement ring he had given her was hanging in the air between them.

"You kept it." He whispered.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore." She breathed. "I can not lose you again."

He grabbed her hands, clasping them in his own tightly. "Everything that happened the past four years is behind us. I will never leave you again."

Kory wretched her hands from his grasp and stood up, the necklace falling to the ground. "So you expect me to accept that what has happened the past four years is merely water under the bridge?" She asked angrily.

Richard stood up too, anger and frustration bubbling to the surface. "To the universe and back, remember?" He argued. "Our love isn't just water under the bridge!"

They stared at each other for a moment. Kory was the first to look away.

"Maybe it is." She said.

Richard's jaw dropped, but before he could say more she walked away. He looked down at the ring for a moment before storming off deeper into the garden to think. The ring was left gleaming in the twinkling garden lights.

* * *

 **Come on Dick, didn't think it would be _that easy_ did ya? Of course not because who doesn't love angst? What does the future hold for a two lovers? Also my characters did the thing :D Finally gave a little bit of background for Dick's disappearance and the next chapter I'll dive more into what happened with everyone when they thought Dick was gone.**

 **Thanks so much for the reviews! They always mean so much to me! So keep them coming!**

 **Vballqueen17**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing as usual**

* * *

Water Under the Bridge

Jason yawned as the rapid knocking on the door had awoken him from a rather pleasant sleep. He flicked on the lights, noticing that he was only wearing a pair of grey sweat pants. He thought about grabbing a shirt, but realized it was all the way in his room and the knocking was becoming more desperate by the second. He stole a quick glance at the clock on the wall and noted the late hour. He smirked. Only one person would be calling on him this late.

"Hey, cutie." He said as he opened the door.

Kory strolled past him, ignoring his usual greeting to her. Jason resisted rolling his eyes as he shut the door. Kory had sat herself down on the couch and he slowly worked his way over to that area.

"What brings you here at this fine hour?" He asked as he sat down in a chair across from her.

"You have never complained about my visits before." She said with a cock of an eyebrow.

He noted the sarcasm, but could also hear an edge to her voice. Something had upset her. He immediately shifted into caring mode. He got up from his chair and sat next to her on the couch, nudging her playfully with his elbow.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

He watched her face twist into concentration as she was mulling over the idea to tell him what was clearly bothering her. Before he could push her to talk she was kissing him. Usually he would not question this and was more than willing to engage in physical activities with her, but something didn't feel right.

"I hear my dear brother is back from the dead." Jason managed to get out in between kisses.

Kory immediately pulled back from him, betrayal in her eyes. "How?"

Jason sat up and held up his phone. "Damien does have a phone, you know."

"Traitor." Kory mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from him.

"You know, I would think that the return of your formerly dead fiancé would mean that you would be shoving your tongue down _his_ throat." He said.

"I blasted him out of the green house window." She said, still not looking at him.

"God, I hope Damien got that on video." Jason said with a laugh. "I would kill to see that."

He noticed that she didn't smile or laugh in return. He internally cursed himself for falling for her in a sense. He had tried so hard not to care all those years ago when they had first started to see each other. It had been just a fling, but he should have known better. Even Red X could fall in love.

"You're not sure if you're happy to see him." He noted, as she remained quiet.

"Everyone was so ready to let him back in!" Kory said in frustration. She stood up and began pacing around the room. "I-I thought he was gone forever and the things I did to myself, oh X'hal."

Her body began to tremble and Jason quickly moved to wrap her in his arms. She didn't need to continue for him to know exactly what she was talking about. She buried her head into his chest and he rested his chin on top of her head.

"You can't run from him forever." He whispered.

"I can try." She said as she looked up at him.

She leaned up and gently brought her lips to his. While he knew this was a bad idea, he couldn't help, but melt into her kiss. Their off and on again relationship had left him confused on how he really felt about her. Now that Dick was back in the picture it only seemed to complicate things a bit more. He cared about his brother, but he also cared about the girl he was holding in his arms.

They moved to the bedroom. Jason picked her up with ease and laid her on the bed before he climbed on top of her. Her hands ran down his bare chest and down into his sweat pants. He moaned softly in between kisses, which only made her pull him closer. This had been their life. Hookups and healing. He had always known there was a part of Kory he could never heal, but he had tried to give her everything she deserved and she loved him in the only way she knew how.

Afterward they laid in bed together, Kory curled up next to Jason, her arms wrapped around his that was laying under her neck. The other arm was tightly wrapped around her waist and his head resting in the crook of her neck.

"He'll love you better than I ever will." He said after a long while.

"But you do love me?" She asked, not denying his statement.

He kissed her shoulder gently. "I do." He could feel tears dripping on his arm and he squeezed her gently. "You love him."

"With my whole heart." She said as she tried to suppress a sob.

"Tell him." Jason said without thought. "Don't worry about me either," he said quickly, "because I've had an amazing couple of years with a gorgeous girl."

She laughed, which caused him to smile.

"We are still getting brunch together on Tuesday mornings." She said as she turned so that she was facing him.

Jason pretended to be offended as he said, "As if I would give up my Tuesday brunch with my favorite person to Richard Grayson! Who do you think I am?"

"A thief? A flirt? A rebel?" She ticked off with a giggle. "A good friend." She added on a more serious note.

"Yeah, yeah," He said as he kissed her lips gently. "Just don't tell Bruce I've gone soft, or Damien for that matter. He would never let me live it down."

"My lips are sealed." Kory said as she motioned zipping her lips. Her smile fell as she said, "You do not think he will leave again, do you? I cannot lose him again. I will not survive it."

"None of us will." Jason said. "I know he's done some stupid things, but I also know that he loves you more than anything in this world."

"To the end of the universe and back."

* * *

Richard stood outside Rachel and Gar's shop, his eyes scanning over the antique looking building. A giant sign read "The Three Eyed Raven" with a beautifully drawn raven perched on a stack of mismatched colored books. Gar had apparently painted the sign. He hadn't realized how talented at drawing the titan was. He smiled as he looked into the window seeing people move between the shelves and sitting amongst the comfy, mismatched furniture.

Kory hadn't returned that morning and he wanted to wait until she returned before he left, but he had made a promise. He didn't want to give his friends any reason for them not to trust him now that he had just been accepted back into their lives. He could have sworn Bruce and Alfred had opened his door last night to make sure he hadn't disappeared.

He opened the door and the tinkle of a small bell rang over him. He was hit with the delicious smell of sweet coffee drinks and pastries. Some instrumental music was playing softly in the shop and Richard began to look through the bookshelves. They were stained a dark mahogany. There were book posters and various art paintings hung up on the walls. Lights in the shapes of stars were strung everywhere in the room, giving it a soft and comfortable glow.

He moved over to the café area and a grin spread across his face when he spotted the wall full of photographs. They were all of the team through different parts of their lives. One of his favorites was their group photo in Tokyo.

"Seems so long ago," Gar said as he walked over to where Richard was standing, "doesn't it?"

"I can still remember how long it took me to get all that ink out of my uniform, though." Richard said with a laugh.

Gar sat down the tray of drinks he had been carrying. "Your uniform? What about my hair?!" He asked in an incredulous voice. "It takes a long time to keep this perfect!"

"What, a whole five minutes?" Victor asked as he pulled out a chair and sat down in it.

Richard laughed as Gar stuck his tongue out at his friend. Rachel came over with a tray of food and sat it down next to the drinks as she took a seat next to Victor.

"Rachel, babe, tell these heathens how much time I put into my hair." Gar said as he pointed at slicked back green locks enthusiastically.

"Longer than Kory does, sometimes." She said with a roll of her eyes. "And her hair is never ending."

Gar smiled in satisfaction as he sat down next to his girlfriend. A sharp pang ran through Richard's chest at the mention of Kory. Things had not gone well between them since he had been back. She had even tried to give back the engagement ring he had given her all that time ago. He just wanted her to ne happy.

"Speaking of Kory," Richard stated somewhat awkwardly as he sat down, "she didn't come home last night." He didn't bother hiding the concern or hurt in his tone.

"She's at Jason's place." Rachel said kindly, trying to soften the blow.

"Oh." Richard said. "Are they…"

The titans looked at each other and kind of shrugged their shoulders.

"Together is a loose term." Victor said casually. "Jason has been there for her, but I don't think she could ever fully commit to being with him."

Richard was both hurt and somewhat comforted by this. He shouldn't have been surprised that Kory would find someone eventually, but at least he knew that she was with someone that would give her everything she deserved.

"Girl definitely has a type." Victor said with a smirk.

"Yeah," Gar agreed with a grin, "Dark haired, brooding, complicated, and raised by Batman."

"Ha ha." Richard said sarcastically.

"Not to mention both were Red X at some point." Rachel said with a cock of her eyebrow as she sipped her coffee.

"Laying it on thick today, aren't you all?" Richard asked in an annoyed tone, although affection for his friends was breaking through.

"Hey, we have four years of teasing to make up for." Victor said as he punched Richard in the arm playfully.

Richard laughed as he nodded his head in agreement. The smile faded as he remembered something Kory had said to him last night. _I did so many bad things when you were gone._ He wasn't sure he wanted to know what those things were, but he felt like he owed Kory so much. He cleared his throat as he noticed all of his friends watching him silently. He could tell that they knew what he wanted to ask.

"I want to know what happened while I was gone." He said in somewhat of a shaky voice. "Kory said she did bad things, " he swallowed a lump in his throat, "and I need to know the pain I caused."

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked.

"Yes." Richard said without hesitation.

"From the beginning would be best then." Gar said after a long gulp from his drink.

"From the start." Rachel and Victor said as they nodded in unison.

 _Four Years ago…_

 _"I didn't realize Earth weddings were this complicated." Kory said as she looked down at several wedding magazines that were scattered over her loveseat._

 _"You already known you're having the ceremony and reception at the Wayne Manor." Rachel pointed out as she flipped through a bridal gown magazine. "That's one of the hardest parts."_

 _"But there are so many details!" Kory said as she plopped down on the couch. "On Tameran the Grand Ruler would pronounce you married and then everyone ate in the great hall. I do love all of the dresses though," She said with a dreamy sigh, "much prettier than the simple gown we would wear on my planet."_

 _"I'm sure no matter what you wear Dick is going to cry when he sees you." Rachel said with a smile as she looked over the magazine at her friend._

 _Kory perked up at that, a grin on her face. "Do you really think so?"_

 _Rachel nodded. Before Kory could say more there was a knock on her apartment door. She hurried over to it and was surprised to see Victor standing on the other side._

 _"Victor!" She said happily as she opened the door. "I did not expect to see you to-"_

 _He voice trailed off when she noticed the devastated look on his face. She stumbled back, waiting for Richard or Gar to come through the door as well. Gar stepped in, but there was no Richard. Rachel immediately got up from her chair and walked over to where everyone was standing._

 _"Where is Richard?" Kory asked in a tight voice. "Why is he not with you?"_

 _Victor was fiddling with his hands and Gar had tears in his eyes as he looked at Rachel. Rachel knew what was coming before either of the boys opened their mouths. She reached for Kory quickly, the latter not even noticing as she continued to stare at her friends._

 _"Why have you not answer my question?!" She demanded, color filling her cheeks. "Where is he?"_

 _"Kory…" Victor said, sadness dripping from his words, "Richard is…nobody could have-"_

 _There were no words as comprehension dawned on Kory. Luckily Rachel was already holding on to her when the titan collapsed to the ground, sobs shaking her body. Rachel held onto her friend as Kory's nailed dug into her shirt, her screams echoing throughout the apartment._

 _"He can not have left." She said in-between sobs. "He can not have left me."_

 _Victor and Gar sat down next to them, wrapping their arms around Rachel and Kory. For hours that sat like that, their tears splashing on the neat wood floor for the loss of their leader and friend._

Richard was silent when Rachel finished the story. It was just the beginning, but he already felt sick to his stomach. He tried to take a sip of his coffee, but it tasted like pain and sorrow on his tongue.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled.

"Are you going to be apologizing after everything we tell you?" Victor asked in a somewhat teasing tone, lightening up the mood.

"I'm going to apologize every second I get the chance to." Richard stated fiercely. "I owe you all that much."

The titans smiled softly at him.

"What happened next?" Richard asked, plowing on. "He knew there was so much more left unsaid."

"We stayed with Kory the next few days." Victor said. "It was hard on all of us, but she definitely took it the hardest."

"She would lay in bed all day, refusing to eat or drink." Rachel said. "That carried on for about a month."

"Although we did manage to get food in her eventually." Gar said as he noted the panic on Richard's face. "But then, one day, she just disappeared for a week straight."

"Where did she go?" Richard asked quickly. That was so unlike Kory to just disappear on her friends.

"We had no idea." Rachel said, her voice slightly pained as she remembered the feeling of fear she felt when Kory had vanished. "Jason called a week after she disappeared saying he found her in a Gotham club drinking and doing drugs."

 _Jason stumbled into Kory's apartment, the latter passed out in his arms. The titans quickly got to their feet at the sight of them, their faces twisted in pain as the neared the pair._

 _"She's breathing, but I think the drugs she was taking had a weird affect on her alien body." Jason said as he moved to the bedroom to lay her down on the bed._

 _The titans followed and Rachel sat on the bed next to Kory's still form. Her eyes began to glow as she ran her hands over her friend._

 _"Where did you find her?" Victor asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes full of worry as he looked at his friend._

 _"I was out getting a drink at one of my favorite spots and there she was dancing on top of the DJ booth with some not too nice looking guys." Jason said as he took a few steps back from the bed to let Rachel work. "Luckily she didn't run when I started talking to her and agreed to come home with me."_

 _"This isn't going to be pretty." Rachel said as she pulled her hands back. Kory started to cough violently as she tried to get up. "Move her to the bathroom."_

 _Gar and Victor grabbed her gently and moved her to the bathroom where she began vomiting into the toilet. Jason and Rachel watched with pained eyes from the bedroom as Kory groaned in pain while Gar gently rubbed her back, holding her hair in his free hand._

 _"Before she passed out in the car she kept saying that Richard wouldn't go away." Jason voiced his concern to Rachel. "She said that no matter how hard she tried he wouldn't leave her alone."_

 _"She's been though a lot." Rachel said sadly. "We all have."_

"She said that she saw my ghost." Richard said as he looked down into his half filled cup, his hands were balled into a tight fist. "Everything that has happened to her is my fault."

"Kory chose to cut herself off from us." Victor said. "She realized that and tried harder to heal with us."

"She was doing pretty well, actually," Gar said thoughtfully, "especially when Jason came around more. They got pretty close over that year."

"What do you mean "she was doing well"?" Richard asked as worry filled him yet again.

The titans all exchanged glances again and he could see the hesitation flicker between them. He knew the worst was yet to come.

"You have to understand how incredibly hard that first year without you was." Victor said after a moment. "For all of us. We thought she was getting better."

"But Kory had become a master at keeping her emotions bottled up." Gar added quickly. "Not even Rachel or Jason could get everything out of her."

"What happened?" Richard asked, already knowing what they were about to tell him.

"It was around the anniversary of your death." Rachel said calmly. "She was supposed to go to Jason's, but when she didn't show he called all of us asking if anyone had seen her."

"She insisted on going to your grave alone." Victor said. "And we wanted to respect that."

"But we wished we hadn't." Gar whispered.

 _Jason burst through Kory's apartment door, fear and worrying causing his body to shake slightly. The apartment was dark and there was no sound save for the cars moving nosily outside the window. He switched on lights, his eyes desperately searching for that gorgeous red hair he had come to love so much. He moved quickly through the living room and into the bedroom. Clothes were scattered on the floor and the bed was unmade, but she was nowhere to be seen._

 _He turned and saw that the bathroom door was closed, but a light was shining through the crack under the door. He held his breath as he pushed open the door. When he did his heart dropped into his stomach. He saw her body, unmoving lying in the giant bathtub on the far side of the bathroom. He ran in, noticing a pile of bloody vomiting staining the white tile of the bathroom floor. There was a small bottle just out of her finger's reach and Jason quickly put it in his pocket._

 _"Kory, can you hear me?" He asked as he felt for a pulse. He felt a faint one, but knew she didn't have much time. He scooped her lifeless form up and ran for the door. He just hoped he wasn't too late._

"She tried to kill herself." Richard stated. He felt dead inside. He knew his "death" would be devastating for all of them, but never thought Kory would have lost the will to live. She deserved so much better than what he gave her. He almost wished he had died back then.

"We almost lost her." Victor said quietly.

"That's when Bruce insisted that she come live in the mansion." Rachel said. "We were all so worried about her and I think that's why she agreed to move in with him."

"Galfor had sent her seeds from Tameran and Bruce built her the greenhouse to use." Gar said as he finished his drink. "I think creating the garden really helped her stay focused and give her a peace of mind."

"Eventually she was ready to start fighting with the titan's again." Victor said with a proud smile. "She's come a long way, we all have."

Richard was silent as the titans finished their story. He was more confused now than ever. He had hurt his friends and Kory so much that it was no wonder she didn't want to be with him anymore.

"Where do I go from here?" he asked softly. "How can I ever make it up to Kory?"

"I am sure I can think of something." A voice said from behind them.

They all turned to see Kory standing a few feet away from them, a soft and kind smile lit up her face.

* * *

 **Sorry for the long update been a bit busy. So! A glimpse of the dark past that plagued Richard's friends while he was gone. Also I got to mess around with JasonxKory aka RedXStar I know there's a theory of Jason being the mysterious Red X and I enjoyed that idea so I wanted to play around with it a bit. What will happen next? Anyway, drop a review because they are always appreciated!**

 **Vballqueen17**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing as usual**

* * *

Water Under the Bridge

Richard felt his heart sore just seeing her standing in front of him. She was still smiling and it this seemed to be the happiest she had been since he had returned. She walked over to the table and pulled up a chair to sit down.

"Didn't think I would miss lunch, did you?" Kory asked.

"Never." Victor said with a smile.

"Your usual then?" Gar asked as he got up to clear away some of the glasses.

Kory nodded and Victor and Rachel got up to clear the table away and to secretly give Richard and Kory some time alone. Richard nearly rolled his eyes at his friend's obviousness, but he was smiling as he watched Gar and Victor give him a small salute of good luck.

"Hi." He said breathlessly as he turned back to look at her, those emerald eyes gazing softly at his face.

"Greetings." She said in return. He laughed softly as he rubbed the back of his neck. She gave him a curious glance. "What is so funny?"

"That was what we said to each other when we almost kissed on that tower in Japan." He said as he remembered the moment like it was yesterday.

"Before you ruined it by saying we were nothing more than heroes?" She asked with a slight smirk.

"Past me was an idiot." He said with a nod of his head.

"You may say that again." She stated.

Richard's eyes flicked down to the table and he began to fiddle with his empty coffee cup. Why had Kory come? Was she here to finally tell him it was over between them? He wouldn't blame her if she did, after what she had gone through. She placed a hand over his, which made him quickly look up at her. She had that soft and adoring look on her face he fell in love with so many years ago. His heart ached for her.

"I have been through so many things in this life," She started quietly, "and losing you was the hardest so far."

His hand wrapped around hers, squeezing it gently. He had forgotten how perfectly their hands fit together. It was like they were made for each other.

"I know." He said. "I will spend the rest of my life trying to make that up to you."

"It will take some time." She said as she took a deep breath. "I can not let you back in all at once."

Richard took her other hand, his eyes concentrated on her face. He wanted her to understand that he was never going to leave her again if he could help it.

"As long as it takes." He said seriously. "I'll wait forever if I have to."

She smiled, tears filling her eyes. He would have done anything to see her smile like that all the time. The room had seemed to grow brighter as she broke into a laugh, tears slipping down her tanned cheeks. Before she could say anything the rest of the titans came crashing back to the table, their arms wrapping around the pair.

"This is the perfect Kodak moment!" Gar said as he pulled his camera from his pocket.

"A picture, seriously?" Rachel asked, but she wasn't annoyed one bit.

Gar quickly set a timer and angled the camera on the table with a book and rushed to stand with his friends who had arranged themselves together in a tight group in front of the camera. Richard was squeezed next to Kory and for a moment they looked at each other, both of their eyes flicking to their lips. He wanted to kiss her so bad. It had been so long and he had missed those lips more than he would have liked to admit. He knew he would have to wait until she was ready and for Kory, Richard had all the time in the world.

* * *

A few weeks had gone by since Richard had been back and he felt himself slipping into a comfortable routine. He would meet with the Titans for lunch everyday, and he was slowly working his way back into the business with Bruce, stopping in for meetings and talking with clients during the week. Bruce told him that he wasn't allowed to start fighting crime again, until he had retrained and been cleared by his father. Victor had been leading the Titans for the past four years and both boys had talked about co-leading once Nightwing was officially part of the team again.

When he wasn't working, training, or catching up with his team he was spending every possible waking moment with Kory. Their repairing relationship was moving slow like she had said, but he didn't mind. He just enjoyed spending time with her. They often spent a lot of time in the greenhouse and she would point out all of the exotic plants to him, describing them in detail. He could listen to her talk all day.

Richard felt butterflies when their fingers would accidentally brush, when they would bump into each other in the hallway, or when they would pin each other to the ground in training. He caught himself staring at her longer than normal and when she would catch him he would look away with a stupid grin on his face.

He found out they had a regular game night every Thursday and soon it became one of his favorite nights, despite the amount of cheating Kory and Damien managed to pull off together. Hearing Kory's laugh was like sweet music to his ears. It was a sound he never thought he would hear again and his heart wanted to burst from his chest every time she laughed at something funny he did.

Richard felt like he was falling in love with her all over again and he wondered if she felt the same. He had gone back into the rose garden to find the engagement ring, but it was nowhere to be found. The idea that it had been lost saddened him, but he knew it could always be replaced if the time came.

 _A thunderstorm was raging outside as Richard shot up from the couch. He blinked a few times, realizing he was in his old apartment. He rubbed his eyes and stood up, his feet hitting the cold, wood floor. He moved towards the hallway, his heart rate beginning to rise._

 _"Kory?" He called into the darkness._

 _There was no response and Richard looked apprehensively down the dark hallway towards their bedroom. He swallowed a lump in his throat and slowly moved down the hallway, which was occasionally lit by a flash of lightening. He pushed open doors, but they all revealed empty rooms. He finally made it to his bedroom door, pushing it open carefully._

 _"Kory, are you in here?" He called again as he stepped inside._

 _The room was messy, but the alien princess was nowhere to be seen, as the room was light up from the storm. He turned to see a light shining from the crack under the bathroom door. His heart was practically beating out of his chest as his took a deep breath. He turned the nob carefully and stepped inside, but as soon as he did he regretted it immediately._

 _Blood, lots of blood stained the beautifully white bathroom. He stumbled back against the wall and looked up to see a sea of red hair spilling from the top of the bathtub. He ran as quick as he could, but he knew he was too late as he neared her paled body._

 _"Kory…." He said as he reached out for her. He saw blood dripping from the tiles behind her unmoving body and he looked up to see "THE REAPER NEVER FORGETS" written in blood just above the bathtub. Richard fell backwards and turned to run, but as soon as he did he was looking into a pair of horribly pale blue eyes…_

Richard awoke in bed, sweat dripping down his face, his chest rising and falling rapidly. It took him a moment to realize he was safe and sound in the manor. It was nothing, but a nightmare. He looked out his window, a calm breeze blowing the trees, and expected to see those eyes looking back at him. Nothing but the glow of the moon was shining through the window.

He tried to lie back down, but his body was shaking and he knew he would never be able to get back to sleep with the image of Kory's body lying limply in the bathtub. He slipped out of bed and quietly snuck over to her room. He just wanted to make sure she was okay.

He pushed her door open and slipped in as quietly as he could. He smiled warmly when he saw her chest rise and fall in a peaceful sleep. It took him a moment to realize she wasn't alone. Damien was snoring softly next to her. His smile only grew wider and knew she was in good hands and vice versa. He started to leave, but Kory's sleepy voice called out to him.

"Dick?" She asked as she sat up, her eyes glowing slightly in the darkness.

"Sorry," He said as he moved closer to her so not to wake Damien, "I had a nightmare and just wanted to check on you."

Kory smiled and moved over, patting the bed space next to her. He hesitated for a moment before he pulled back the covers and slide in next to her. She curled up next to him, her body fitting his comfortably. He put his arm around her and when she didn't protest he relaxed next to her.

"Do not worry, Mr. Grayson, I will protect you." She said with a yawn.

Richard rested his chin in the crook of her neck, breathing in the scent of lavender from her shampoo. He felt warm and safe next to her.

"I'm never afraid when I'm with you, Mrs. Grayson." He said sleepily, not realizing what he had called her.

Kory smiled her cheeks turning slightly pink as she cuddled closer to Richard. She felt herself slowly falling into one of the most peaceful sleeps she had ever had in the past four years.

* * *

"We're going to need to ask Bruce for a bigger bed if our sleepovers are gaining a new member." Damien said casually as he played with Silkie on the floor of the greenhouse.

"It was just a one time thing." Kory said as she wiped sweat from her forehead. "He had a nightmare."

"C''mon, Kory" Damien scoffed as he looked up at her, "you're falling for Grayson all over again. We can all see it."

"I am trying to take it slow." She said as her cheeks burned red.

"Listen, I'm not good with the whole love thing," Damien said, "but I do care about you and I guess Richard to some extent." Kory gave him a warm smile. "And it's obvious that you two were made for each other."

Kory sighed. "It is not that simple. I am afraid I will lose him all over again." She looked down at the ground. Even the thought of losing him again was almost enough to send her into a panic. "I do not think I could survive it again."

"We're all going to lose each other at some point." Damien said firmly, but kindly. Kory looked up at him. "So make the most of the time you have now."

He reached into his pocket and held up the engagement ring she had left in the garden.

"How did you?" She asked.

Damien smiled. "Found it that night after your fight. Figured I could use it to scam some money out of Grayson, but I'm feeling generous."

Kory laughed as she pulled Damien into a hug. The young Robin groaned, but was very pleased. He had grown close to the alien princess, considering her the big sister he never had. She was one of the only people in the world he would do anything for.

"Well, are you going to take it or not?" He asked with a wiggle of an eyebrow.

She reached out to grab it, but before she could a small metal ball came crashing through the window. Kory and Damien looked at the small blinking red light on the ball for a moment before both dove out of the way as it exploded. Luckily, both heroes landed in a soft patch of plants in the back of the greenhouse. The front was completely blown apart by the front.

"Damien!" Kory called as she looked around for her friend as she tried to get to her feet.

The young Robin crawled out from underneath a giant blue bush, gripping his head in pain. "I'm fine. What was that?"

Before Kory could answer she looked up to realize they were surrounded by a large group of men dressed in black. They parted in the middle as a man with long, white hair and pale skin slowly came towards them. He was dressed in a black armor and his mouth was covered in what looked like a big, creepy, Halloween mask displaying a smile with giant, yellow teeth. He had terrifying pale, blue eyes.

Kory instinctively stepped in front of Damien, cursing herself for leaving her communicator in the house. The man stopped just in front of her and she couldn't tear her eyes of his own.

"Who are you?" She demanded, her voice firm, starbolts charged in her hand.

"An old friend of Richard's." He stated calmly, his voice loud and clear despite the mask he was wearing.

"We'll take a message and you can come back never." Damien said sassily.

The Reaper laughed as he looked down at Damien.

"Such strong words for someone so small." He said and Damien only glared in return. "Yes, I think we will take both of you."

Before any of the Knights of Death could move Damien threw down a small, black metal ball, releasing gas into the area, giving them cover. Green starbolts began raining down on the men, causing them to scatter. The Reaper laughed as he moved past his men, who were trying to get themselves together to attack.

"Death loves a good challenge." He called out into the smoke. "You will be mine, my dear."

Kory and Damien took advantage of the chaos and had snuck out of the back if the greenhouse that was still covered in smoke. They leaned their backs against the glass wall, breathing heavily as the smoke cleared out of their lungs.

"We need to get the others." Kory said as she looked behind her to make sure there was no one behind them in the greenhouse. "We are severely out numbered."

"We can take them." Damien said as he punched his fist into his hand. "I have some of my Robin gear on me."

Kory shook her head. "We need the Titans and Batman. Richard knows how they fight."

Damien grumbled, but agreed that she was right. "If we can get to the rose garden, we can get to the secret-"

Before he could finish a glowing, sparking net wrapped around him and began to drag him away. As he tried to get a bat-a-rang from his pocket to cut himself free the sparks flickered and sent a shock through his body, causing him to scream out in pain. Kory didn't hesitate as she flew after him, firing a bolt at the man dragging the net. The net fell away and Damien groaned as Kory kneeled next to him.

"Damien, are you okay?" She asked with concern.

Before he could respond five men surrounded them, a variety of sparking weapons in their hand. Kory fired up her bolts and began firing at three of them as the flipped and dove out of the way of her fire. Damien took a moment to gather himself before he went to hand to hand combat with the other two. They were quick, but he could match them and he had been trained by the Batman. He took them out and turned to see how Kory was holding up.

She hand managed to dispatch one of them, but one of the others had snuck up behind her, sending a pain shock through her body when he hit her with his weapon. She fell to the ground hard, with a loud groan escaping her lips. Damien used his bat-a-rang to take out the one behind her. The Knight in front of her brought down his bow like weapon to knock her out, but she caught it and blasted him back with her laser eyes. Damien ran over and helped her up.

"Come on!" He yelled as he began to pull her towards the rose garden maze.

They ran for cover in the tall hedges, hoping to get some cover. They hurriedly ran through the maze, the sound of people everywhere. Kory would blast anyone coming towards them and they finally made their way to where they knew the secret trap door was that led to a tunnel to the Bat Cave. As Damien was about to open it a loud explosion, sent both of them flying backwards.

Kory came to first, her vision blurred as she say smoke and fire rising from the hedges. Damien was out cold a couple of feet away from her. She immediately moved over to his body as two men came at them. She blasted them away and scooped up Damien's unmoving form and started for the trap door. Before she could open it, the door opened on its own and Alfred stuck his head out of the opening.

"Miss Kory, what is happening?" He asked as he looked at the unconscious Damien in her arms.

"The Knights of Death have come back for Richard." She said in a pained voice as it really sunk in what was happening. They were coming back for her love, just when she was finally opening back up to him again. She wasn't going to lose him, not this time. "Take Damien and alert the Titans and Bruce."

She handed Damien to Alfred and the butler began to move, but stopped when he realized she wasn't following.

"Miss Kory are you not coming?" He asked with concern.

Kory shook her head. "I'm going to distract them. We can not have them find the Bat Cave." Alfred's eyes widened as he started to protest. "Alfred, we do not have time, please go, I will be fine."

Alfred wished her luck and started down the tunnel as Kory closed the door. She took a deep breath and started in a different direction as she heard the Knights closing in on her.

"Damien, go the other way!" She yelled as to not raise suspicion to the Young Robin's sudden disappearance.

She rounded the corner and came to a quick stop as ten men stood in front of her. She took a deep breath and waited until they came at her. She fought them off as long as she could, but the sheer number overwhelmed her. She felt a strong shock rage through her body, bringing her to her knees.

"Again." Said a voice and she felt the pain of the electricity hit her again. "Again." Her vision was beginning to blur as her body fell to the ground, she looked up to see a set of pale blue eyes before the world went black.

* * *

 **Sorry it took me so long to update. I had the first half of this chapter written for a while, but finally had the time to finish the second half. Yay for cliffhangers! Also, I know someone asked me about Tim Drake, since I had all the other Robin's featured in this story. Unfortunately I don't know enough about his character so I kind of just left him out, sorry Tim!**

 **Thanks for the reviews and let me know what you thought of this chapter!**

 **Vballqueen17**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing as usual**

* * *

Water Under the Bridge

Damien groaned, his body aching severely, his head pounding terribly. Something had happened, something he couldn't remember, something bad…

"Kory!" Damien yelled as he jumped up into a fighting stance. The sudden movement mad him feel nauseous as his vision blurred. He felt his body falling back down to the ground, his hands still half heartily held in a battle ready position.

"Master Damien, you must rest you have been injured." Alfred said as he placed some gentle hands on Damien, lowering him to the couch.

"Alfred, the Knights of Death are back we have to help Kory!" Damien said as all of his memories began flooding, he tried to push Alfred off, but he still felt woozy.

"I have contacted Master Wayne and the others, we have to wait for them." Alfred said. He turned away and started for the monitors in the Bat Cave

"By then, it will be too late!" Damien said, frustrated. He followed Alfred around to the monitors, where the butler pushed a button, pulling a video up on the main screen.

"I am afraid, Master Damien," Alfred said as he pressed play, "it is already too late."

Damien's eyes widened as he watched Kory get taken down and dragged away off screen. Damien felt his shoulders slump and he slowly walked back over to the couch, feeling much worse than before.

"What are we supposed to do now?" He asked with a defeated sigh.

Alfred sat down next to Damien, placing a comforting hand on the young Robin's shoulders. "Now we wait Master Damien, now we wait."

* * *

Kory took a deep breath, concentrating all of might on the energy cuffs that were holding her in place. She had been trying for the better part of an hour to try and break free, but every time she had seemed close, electricity tore through her body almost rendering her unconscious again. One more time, she could do it.

"Ahhhhhh!" She screamed in pain as electricity rippled through her body, stronger than last time. Her muscles pulled and pushed, straining to the point of immeasurable pain, until finally it stopped. Her body went limp and she felt her chest heave painfully.

"I must admit," a voice said in front of her, "that you are a lot stronger than I first thought."

Kory took a moment to catch her breath. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the Reaper who was just a few inches in front of her.

"You know nothing of my strength." She said with as much venom in her voice as she could muster.

The Reaper hummed softly to himself as he paced back and fourth in front of her. "Truly, we did not want to get any of you involved, but I am afraid, Grayson is leaving us with no choice."

"Leave him alone." She said as another surge of electricity ran through her.

"How did it feel to believe that your one, true love was dead?" the Reaper asked as her screams tore through the empty sewage pipes. "What is it like the feel your whole world ripped from you?"

Kory gasped for breath as the pain stopped. Beneath the pain and the anger she felt a spark of curiosity run through her, why would he be asking her these questions. "Why-"

"Why do I ask such things?" He asked, cutting her off. "Because I want to know how Richard is going to feel when I wipe out everyone he cares about." He growled menacingly. "I want Grayson crawling back to me on all fours, begging for Death."

"Don't you dare hurt him!" Kory yelled as she tried to move towards the Reaper, only to result in her getting shocked again.

"You shouldn't worry about your fiancé, my dear," The Reaper said as he held up a sparkling ring in front of Kory's eyes, which were wide when she recognized it, "it is for yourself you should be concerned."

Once again Kory's screams rang throughout the room, echoing off the wall as the Reaper rolled the engagement ring through his fingers with a smirk hidden underneath his mask.

* * *

Rachel ran her glowing hands over Damien's rib cage, causing him to wince in pain. The rest of the titans and Bruce were pacing in front of the pair, a tense silence filling the room to the point where Damien found it hard to breathe.

"Thanks." He mumbled as Rachel sat back, the glow around her hands fading.

"You're welcome." She said quietly.

Damien looked over at Richard, who had been dead silent since he had arrived at the Wayne Manner. He was sitting with his back against the wall, knees to his chest and head in his hands. Victor and Bruce had tried talking to him, even Jason had tried to defuse the tension, but Richard had remained silent.

"Why haven't we heard from these guys yet?" Gar asked Victor and Jason who were sitting closes to him. "I mean, Kory's been missing for a while."

"It seems that they want to be holding all the cards in their favor." Jason said darkly as he crossed his arms over his chest. Under his sarcastic and dark humor demeanor, he was extremely worried about Kory. The Knights of Death were no joke and he knew they were out to settle the score. If anything happened to her…

"So you think they might be planning something else?" Rachel asked after a moment.

"They did try to take both of us." Damien said as he stretched his sore muscles. "Seems like they're hell bent on destroying anyone with ties to Dick."

Victor placed his hand on his chin, thinking hard about what Damien said. "You know, I think pipsqueak might be right." Damien frowned at the nickname, but no one took notice as they were all paying attention to Victor. "I thought I felt like someone was following me the past couple of days."

"I did notice some strange new people in the shop." Gar said, his eyes wide with realization.

"So the Knights have been watching all of us for a couple of days it seems." Bruce said with a heavy sigh. "Richard mentioned they were good at gathering information before striking."

Richard was still silent and unmoving against the wall. The sound of the other's voices faded into the background. His nightmares were coming true. He should have never come back. His friends and family would have been safer if they still believed him to be dead. Everything that had happened over the past four years and everything that was happening now was his fault. Ever since Bruce had called him he had been running every possible scenario over in his mind. He made list of where they could be hiding, what they were planning and how he could save everyone from a horrible fate.

His heart ached while watching the footage of Kory being taken. It took all of his strength to not run off and search for her. He knew she was still alive. The Reaper was a mastermind of torture and knew exactly how to break people. He was going to make Richard wish he were dead by the end of his scheme.

"Richard, what do you think?"

The voice broke through his thoughts and he looked up to see everyone starring at him.

"What?" He asked, his voice soft.

"We were running ideas about where they could be hiding." Bruce said again, his voice firm, but gentle. "What are your thoughts on that?"

"They could be anywhere, everywhere." He said without looking at them. "They'll let me know when they want me to know."

Victor, Rachel, Gar and Jason all shared a look together. They had never heard Richard sound so defeated before. Richard's phone beeped before anyone could say anymore. He quickly pulled it from his pocket and narrowed his eyes as the words "UNKNOWN NUMBER" ran across his screen.

"Hook it up to the Bat Cave monitors." Bruce said immediately.

They all ran over to the giant screens as Richard redirected the video call so they would all be able to see it. The terrifying masked smile and light blue eyes of the Reaper immediately greeted them as the video came up on the screen.

"Richard Grayson." He said happily as his eyes narrowed in on the titan who was standing in front of everyone else. "It has been a while since you parted, Death has been patiently waiting to see you again."

Richard had hoped the only time he would see those eyes again would be his nightmares. He felt his heart sink at the thought of becoming one of them again. His friends and family behind him were glaring at the man on the screen. As far as they were concerned he was the reason for all of their pain and suffering over the years.

"Mind telling us where our friend is, Immortan Joe?" Jason asked with a mix of sarcasm and anger.

The Reaper took his eyes off of Richard and looked at Jason with curiosity. "Ah yes, the Robin who died and came back to life. I hear you've been a naughty boy." The Reaper said with a laugh. "You know it's not nice to sleep with someone else's fiancé."

Jason wasn't sure whether he should be shocked or impressed by how much this guy knew about them. One thing he knew for certain was that this guy was dangerous and they needed to save Kory as soon as they could.

"So you've been keeping tabs on us, then." Jason stated, the sarcasm completely gone now.

"You never know when your men could use a little _motivation_." He responded as his eyes flickered back down to Richard. Richard was gripping the control panel, his eyes looking straight past the Reaper. "Come now, Richard, it doesn't bother you that someone you once called a brother was sleeping with the woman you loved?"

"Cut the bullshit," Richard growled, behind him Rachel and Gar had grabbed on to Jason, holding him back from smashing the computer screen, "you going to tell me where you're hiding or not?"

"I thought Batman taught you patience." He said as his eyes moved to Bruce for a brief second. "I must admit your friends are more _formidable_ than I anticipated." The Reaper said as he slowly pulled a long, sharp knife out of its sheath. "I was hoping to have the little one as well," he said as he looked at Damien, "but such is life when we don't always get what we want."

He started walking through a dark passageway, his arms held out at his sides as he came into a large opening. Faded graffiti lined the cracked concrete walls as he came into an open, lit area.

"And why should I worry when I have the crown jewel."

The camera panned away from him and zoomed in on Kory who was breathing heavily in her imprisoned stance. Everyone in the Bat Cave tensed as the Reaper approached her slowly.

"Kory, my dear, don't you have anything to say to your friends or your fiancé?" The Reaper asked as he tried to lift her chin with the blade of the knife. She groaned softly, her eyes closed tightly, but she didn't pull away from the blade. "No, I suppose not."

Richard could feel all of his muscles tighten when he had approached her. Seeing her in pain always broke his heart and knowing this was all because of him made him feel sick to his stomach.

"I will send you the coordinates to meet one of my men and he will bring you here." The Reaper said, his eyes still on Kory as he ran his fingers through a few strands of her hair.

"No warnings about coming alone?" Gar asked through gritted teeth.

The Reaper turned away from Kory so that he was looking at all of them again. "Oh that won't be necessary, changeling, because you will all be busy with another task."

Everyone exchanged a look behind Richard, fear running across their faces.

"What task?" Victor asked.

"You all have places that are special to you and it would be a shame if they were to be annihilated." The Reaper said dangerously.

Gasp and looks of shock and horror passed over all of their faces, save for Richard who was just staring at Kory, eyes opened wide in defeat.

"Once this call ends your countdown of two hours will begin." He said as his gloved fingers ran over the sharp blade, his eyes looking at it longingly. "I have always wondered what color an alien's blood ran."

He moved swiftly and efficiently, plunging the knife deep into Kory's side where her shirt had been ripped from their early fight. She cried in pain, as he twisted it before pulling it out to examine her blood. The struggle set of the electricity, shocking her body, her pained screams and cries echoing loudly.

Everyone was yelling, but the Reaper ignored them as he ran his hand over the wet knife. "A deep, blood red, how beautiful." He looked up and grinned beneath his mask. "Two hours, Titans."

The screen cut to black and everyone was too shocked to say anything as a timer appeared on the monitor, starting a countdown for two hours. Richard could feel his whole body shaking and for the first time in his life he felt the urge to kill. His phone beeped again and he looked down at it to see a location.

"So there must be a bomb at my car shop, the café and somewhere in the mansion." Victor said, moving into leader mode. "We'll have to split up and see if we can locate and disarm them before it's too late."

"We can't let Richard go alone to meet these guys." Jason said angrily. "It's a trap."

"We don't have a choice, Jason." Richard said as he straightened up, tucking his phone in his pocket. He had already made his mind up. If rejoining the Knights of Death is what it took to save Kory and his friends, then he would it without question. "I'm going alone."

"I know where they are." Damien said before Richard could take off.

"Uh, what?" Gar asked as everyone looked at him skeptically. "How?"

Damien resisted a smirk as he stepped into the middle of everyone so they could all hear him. "The graffiti on the wall, I've seen it before. It's an old sewage outlet on the outskirts of the city. It was closed off a while ago."

"And why do you know that?" Bruce asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Kory and I may have snuck out and found places to destroy stuff at." Damien said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Dick, I have a plan."

Richard hadn't turned to face his friends yet. He didn't want them to get involved. This was his mess; he needed to fix it by himself.

"You don't have to do this alone," Victor said, "You never had too."

Richard turned and looked at his friends, they were all smiling encouragingly at him. His eyes flickered towards the timer for a moment before looking back at them.

"What's the plan?"

* * *

 **Sorry for the long update time, been a bit busy, but I promise I will finish this story! Also I changed my mind a few times on how I wanted it all to go down. Thanks for sticking with the story so far! One more chapter after this ought to wrap it all up! so drop me a review and let me know what you thought of the chapter!**

 **Vballqueen17**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing as usual**

* * *

Water Under the Bridge

Victor quickly shoved his key into the shop's lock, his hands shaking slightly. He pursed his lips together as he finally managed to get the door unlocked and opened. Jason stumbled in behind him as he closed and relocked the door. They needed to make sure no one would follow them inside in case, well, just in case.

"Any suggestions on where we should start looking?" Jason asked, his voice tight and all traces of his usual sarcastic nature gone. Watching what the Reaper did to Kory had upset the rouge hero far more than he wanted to admit.

"I'm going to run a few scans and see if I can pinpoint a location." Victor said as he flipped up a screen on his arm. "Once we know what it looks like we can help the others."

"Still don't know why _I_ couldn't be the backup for Grayson." Jason mumbled.

"Because it's Damien's plan and I need you here." Victor said as he slowly spun in a circle.

Jason's annoyed expression softened slightly as he sighed heavily. "Sorry, I'm just worried."

Victor paused for a moment to give Jason a sympathetic look before he returned back to his scanners. "We all are."

Jason hesitated for a moment before he spoke again, "Sometimes I wonder it would have been better if Grayson hadn't come back."

Victor closed his eyes for a moment. He knew exactly where Jason was coming from. They were all beyond relieved that their friend had returned, but now things were complicated and they were all in danger. He hadn't even called Sarah yet to tell her what was happening. He hadn't wanted her to worry.

"But he is back and we he's our friend and-" Victor began.

"And we would do anything for him." Jason finished. Victor was surprised to see he was smiling slightly. "Or well, maybe I would do anything for Kory and she loves and I love her."

Victor grinned. "Sucker."

"Wouldn't change a thing." Jason said.

Victor's arm beeped loudly and his eyes flashed down to a blinking light on his screen. He took a deep breath and rushed over to a decorative car engine sitting in the back corner of the shop. Jason wasn't too far behind and Victor carefully gripped the engine and began to turn it slowly. Sitting towards the bottom of the engine Victor was able to locate the device. Suddenly, Victor's face fell.

"Oh no…"

* * *

Richard inhaled sharply, the stale air from the bag stuffed over his head made his lungs burn. He knew it was coming, but he wished the Knights would move more quickly. He knew that most people couldn't survive bleeding out from a wound like the one the Reaper inflicted on Kory. She was strong though and he knew the Reaper wasn't ready to let her die yet. His heart ached knowing how much pain she was being put through because of him. The Reaper was going to pay.

Someone pushed him forward and pulled the bag from his head. He landed on his hands and knees and when he looked up he felt an involuntary shudder go through his body. He had never thought he would see the blue eyes in person ever again. He quickly took in his surroundings. They were in a wide empty part of the sewer, but you would have never have guessed that from all of the equipment set up in the area. The Knights of Death were flanking him on both sides, their eyes watching him intensely.

"Richard Grayson!" The Reaper said loudly, his voice echoing off the walls. "Our Knight of Death has come home." He said more softly.

Cheers erupted and Richard felt sick looking around at all the people he once knew so well. He narrowed his eyes, ready to end this sick game. Richard got to his feet, the Knights falling silent as he did so.

"Where is she?" He growled.

The Reaper was leaning back in a chair, sitting like a king in front of his subjects. He looked calm, and Richard knew, at least at the moment, he held all of the cards. He knew he needed to stall long enough to give his friends time to find the bombs and diffuse them.

The Reaper was quiet for a moment, staring Richard down. Richard held the Reaper's gaze, he couldn't show fear, and this time he was going to beat Death for good. The Reaper stood up from his chair, clapping his hands slowly.

"First, I must offer my congratulations," He said as he started for Richard, "because she is everything I thought she would be and more."

He walked over, wrapping an arm around Richard, who forced himself not to shutter, and started ushering him towards one of the tunnels. Richard would be lying if he didn't say he was impressed by the way the Knights had set up down here in a short period of time. They had all of their equipment not to mention a holding cell for an alien powerhouse. The Reaper had always been prepared.

"It's amazing you came all this way for one person." Richard said loudly before the exited the main chamber; he wanted everyone in the room to here. "Seems like a lot of trouble for someone that left what you all believed in."

The Reaper laughed. "Come now, Richard, this is about the principle of the thing. Once a knight always a knight and the Reaper-"

"Never forgets." Richard finished automatically. The motto had been ingrained in them, stained on the inside of their brains forever.

"Such a good boy." The Reaper said, grabbing Richard's chin, squeezing his cheeks together tightly. "It really does pain me to punish you this way."

"If I'm the one you want, why don't you just leave them alone?" Richard asked quickly. "You know I would go with you in a heartbeat."

They walked through the dark tunnel, the Reaper's hand tightened on Richard's shoulder. "Oh Richard, you left the Knights of Death a mess, and the others want revenge for that," they walked into another open area, the faded graffiti set Richard's heart racing, "and that means you have to be punished the best way we know how."

Richard's eyes found Kory instantly. She was still suspended in the prison they had put her in. He looked down at her wound, which had been bandaged poorly, the white of the bandage and her t-shirt were stained a very dark red. Her head was resting against her chest; probably unconscious from the blood lost or from the electricity they used to shock her body.

"Kory…" He said weakly, his body automatically moving towards her. He was surprised when the Reaper let him go to her. He rushed to her, placing his hands gently on her face to try and wake her. "Hey, Star, it's me." He said softly.

"Dick?" She mumbled, her lips barely moving.

"I'm here." He said. He was fighting to keep his voice steady and tears from spilling from his eyes.

"D-Do not go with them." She managed to say, her chest heaving painfully. "I can not lose you again."

He gently wiped a tear that spilled down her cheek, his body aching to take her into his arms and hold her forever. He was going to make them pay for everything they had done to her.

"Come now, Richard, we have a few things to discuss." The Reaper said in a bored voice.

Richard didn't move and the Reaper side. He walked over and kicked the machine that controlled her prison, which sent electricity running through her body. She cried out in pain, sending Richard into a panic.

"STOP IT!" He yelled. He didn't know what to do, her just wanted her pain to end.

"Come, we have important things to talk about." The Reaper said again as he pointed to the tunnel, which led back to the main room.

It took all of Richard's power to turn away from Kory. The Reaper smiled and slung his arm around Richard again. His other hand fished deep into his pocket and pulled out Kory's engagement ring.

"Such a beautiful selection." The Reaper said as he held it out for Richard to see. Richard's eyes were wide and he reached out to pick it up. The Reaper let him examine it for a moment before he plucked it from his fingers and tossed it behind him. It made a sharp "ping" sound as it hit the ground just in front of Kory's unmoving body.

They walked back into the main room, the men hollering loudly, jeering as the Reaper waved them back to the sides of the room.

"I know you've been trying to stall me, so your friends can defuses those bombs I placed in their favorite spots." The Reaper said as the room went silent again. "I should tell you, they are designed to go off from the slightest touch."

Richard's eyes widened and he felt his knees buckle as he tried to remain standing. There was a loud siren that went off and the men cheered, clapping and stomping like wild animals.

"Ah yes, that'll be Stone's workshop." The Reaper said with a satisfied sigh. "Who was with him, helping?" The Knights laughed as Richard fought the urge to vomit. He didn't know this had all been a large trap with no escape. The Reaper always tied up his loose ends. That's all Richard was. A loose end. After all his friends and family were destroyed in the bombs the Reaper would surely kill Kory right in front of him just to make sure he never had the will to rebel ever again.

"I hope it was the once dead Robin!" Someone yelled from the crowd.

The Reaper nodded his head and looked at Richard. "Do you think he can come back to life again?"

"You son of a bitch." Richard said his anger getting the better of him. He lunged for the Reaper, but three sets of hands had grabbed him and pulled him back. He was assaulted with hard punches and kicks as another alarm went off.

"Goodbye coffee shop." The Reaper said with a pleasured sigh. "Now if Bruce would just-" a third siren went off and cheers rang throughout the room.

Richard's bruised body was shaking on the floor, there was only one person left now for them to get rid off. This was all his fault, all his fault.

"Bring in the alien." The Reaper called, causing another roar of pleasure to rise up in the Knights. The Reaper kneeled down, pulling his mask away from his face, so that his lips were brushing against Richard's ear. "I'm going to enjoy killing her slowly and painfully, having her beg for Death with you watching."

"I will kill you." Richard said darkly, his blue eyes alive with malice. "Even if it's the last thing I do."

The Reaper smiled and returned his mask to his face. "We shall see."

Two men came running back through the tunnel, breathless and looking scared as the Reaper turned to look sharply at them.

"She's gone!" One of them said.

"What do you mean, she's gone, how could she have escaped?!" The Reaper yelled angrily. He sharply turned to look at Richard, a smirk playing on his handsome features. "YOU. What did you do?" The Reaper asked as he closed the distance between them. He grabbed Richard by the shirt and yanked him to his feet.

"I was with you the whole time." Richard said. "And you killed all of my friends."

The Reaper snarled. "I should just finish you off now so when that bitch does find you she can moron over your body again." He pulled the knife from its sheath, but before he could attack Richard with it he was knocked back into his chair by a green energy bolt…

"You know, it's not very smart to mess with the most powerful people in Gotham." Damien's voice echoed in the room.

Everyone looked around trying to find the source of the voice, but no one could find it.

"Show yourself little one." The Reaper yelled as he spun around, his eyes scanning all of the possible places he could be hiding.

Damien dropped down just behind the Reaper, fully dressed in his Robin uniform, a smirk on his face. "I hope you don't mind, but I brought friends."

Suddenly, in the middle of the room dark energy took over the floor and from it rose the titans, plus Batman and Red X. Everyone looked on in horror as Raven's dark energy disappeared, leaving the team in the middle of the Knights who were still in shock.

"The-the bombs?" The Reaper stuttered, amazed any of them were still alive.

Cyborg was smiling. "I figured out that they couldn't be touched and warned the others before they set them off."

"It pays to know someone who can send things to different dimensions." Beast Boy said as he cocked his thumb towards Raven who was glaring at the Reaper.

"Titans, go!" Richard yelled.

Red X pulled out a bow staff and tossed it to Richard as everyone dove into the fray. Damien flipped over and landed next to Richard, the two back to back spinning as they became surrounded by a couple of Knights.

"Where's Kory?" Richard asked immediately.

"She's safe," Damien stated as he pulled out a few weapons, "but she wanted to land one hit on the Reaper before we sent her to be with Alfred."

Richard couldn't help, but smile. "That's my girl."

"That's _our_ girl." Damien corrected before running to fight a few Knights.

The Knights were no match for the Titans and Batman as the team worked together to round up everyone they could. As the battle was ending Richard noticed that the Reaper had slipped away and was starting down the tunnel to where Kory was imprisoned. Richard began to follow; he wasn't letting the Reaper get away.

"It's over, Reaper, give yourself up now." Richard said as he came to halt just a few feet from where the Reaper was standing.

The Reaper had been busying himself by rewiring a few things in the machine and he stopped and slowly turned to look at Richard.

"You could have been a god, Grayson," He said almost sadly, "we could have conquered it all."

"Nothing means as much to me as the people I love." Richard said defiantly. "They're the reason I live."

The Reaper chuckled. "Well, we'll see how long they survive when you're dead for good this time." He hit a button on the machine and large electrical energy waves began to swim throughout the tunnels. "You're friends may have a chance to escape, but you'll never make it out in time."

"You're willing to kill yourself?" Richard asked, half in shock as he slowly started backing down the tunnel as the walls shook and dust and debris started crumbling down around them.

"I am Death." The Reaper said before he pulled out a gun and fired a shot at Richard.

Richard grunted in pain as the shot hit his shoulder, knocking him to the ground, hitting his head hard. His vision began to swim and he struggled to get to his feet. The tunnel around them started caving in and Richard realized there was no getting out of this one alive.

 _I'm sorry Kory, I'm so sorry_

"Not this time, Grayson." A familiar voice said as Richard was hoisted to his feet. "You do not get to leave us, leave _her_ again." Jason said as he began moving them both down the tunnel, Richard leaning heavily on his brother as blood spilled from his gun wound.

Jason was able to drag the half conscious Richard back to the main room where the walls were falling and everyone was regrouped in the middle.

"Raven, get us out of here!" Cyborg commanded and soon they were all engulfed in blackness.

Richard hummed softly to himself. He was finally free.

* * *

The sun was beginning to set beautifully behind the Wayne manor's garden, casting a warm and soft glow over the group that was sitting around a table of good food and drinks. Everyone was laughing as Gar retold a story of how he and Victor were sucked into a con by Control Freak.

Richard's cheeks hurt from smiling all day. He had never been so happy in his life. A few days had passed since their encounter with the Knights of Death and Richard knew it was all finally over. He rolled his shoulder, which was still in pain from where he was shot, but he was lucky, he was still breathing.

Laughter filled the garden and Richard could see the relaxed and easy going stances of all his friends. Rachel was rolling her eyes at Gar, but affection was oozing from her look as he acted out his battle with the remote controlled villain. Victor's hands were entangled with Sarah's as he supplied his side of the story, making sure Gar didn't miss anything. Jason and Alfred were engrossed in the story laughing and nodding along eagerly. Richard locked eyes with Bruce for a moment and his father smiled and gave him a small nod.

His eyes turned to Kory, who had been sitting just next to him, but she was suddenly gone. He panicked for a second before he felt Damien poke him gently in the ribs. He turned to the young Robin and he pointed towards the rose garden where they watched a swish of red hair disappear behind a hedge.

"I think this belongs to you." Damien said quietly as he placed the engagement ring into Richard's hand.

Richard squeezed the ring tightly in his palm and smiled at Damien before he slipped away from the table when no one was looking. Kory was waiting for him just in front of the fountain where they fought last time. He felt his heart pounding in his chest. How did she feel about him now? Was everything that had happened the past four years and their love still just water under the bridge?

"Hi." He said softly as he came to stand next to her.

"Greetings." She said, her emerald eyes finding his.

He extended his palm to her, showing her the ring glittering in the setting sunlight. She hesitated for a moment before taking it from him.

"Kory, I want to be with you, forever and always." Richard said as he pulled her close. He ran a hand through her hair, his eyes never leaving her face. "I love you."

"To the end of the universe and back?" She asked softly.

"The universe is a big place." He said with a laugh as he was reminded of the first time he proposed to her. It seemed like a distant memory now.

She was grinning now, a sight his heart ached to see everyday he had been away from her. This was how it should be.

"Bigger than you know."

And suddenly she was kissing him. Richard melted into her kiss, his lips finding hers so easily, like they were made for each other. Everything, everything that had happened between them was felt in that kiss. Richard pulled her closer, never wanting to let her go again. He had never loved someone like he loved Starfire. They parted for a moment, needing air. Their foreheads pressing against each other, eyes closed.

"To the end of the universe and back." He said before falling into her kisses again.

* * *

 **Yay! So finally wrapped up this story, with a happy ending of course because I'm a sucker for happy endings. Thank you to everyone who has read and stuck with the story! It was a pleasure to write. As always please leave a review for the final chapter!**

 **Vballqueen17**


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